Loves Journey
by strent23
Summary: This story takes place after Chances, Challenges and Taking Risks and is also an AU story. This story continues Lee and Amanda's journey now that they have declared their love and are ready for the next step: marriage. What new challenges will they have to face?
1. Chapter 1

Loves Journey: Chapter 1

 **Lee's Apartment**

Lee awakened to the sound of raised voices outside his apartment door. Lee glanced at the clock to see what time it was. The LCD clock read three thirteen. _You have got to be kidding!_ Lee thought to himself glancing over at Amanda who was still asleep. Lee stood up and walked towards the front door, poised to open it and have a discussion with whomever it was, but the noise stopped. After waiting a few more moments for any further noise, Lee went to the bathroom and then returned to bed. He laid there, his eyes directed upon Amanda, his arms gently reaching out and pulling her into an embrace.

 _If things went well, this time three weeks from now, they'd be married; staying at a hotel, and laying in a_ _bed together just like this._

"Stetson, what are you doing awake?"

"Oh, Amanda, did I wake you?"

"No, hmm, I'm not sure," she rubbed her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, well someone was in the hall making noise—"

"Oh, I didn't hear a thing."

"I see that."  
"I was having the most amazing dream," Amanda said.

"And what dream was that?" Lee asked.  
"That I was going to get married," Amanda answered.

"But we are getting married."

"Well, I know that. But in this dream, there was talk about eloping," Amanda scratched her chin.

"Amanda, don't you remember, we said last night that we would elope?"

"Did we?" Amanda cocked an eyebrow at Lee, but then smiled at the worry lines on Lee's face.

"Amanda?"

"I remember," Amanda said reaching out and rubbing Lee's eyebrow.

"Amanda King, you are—"

"But I am having trouble with some other details about last night…"

"Oh yeah?"

"Something about being in someone's strong arms that were wrapped around me."

"What happened?"

"Well, I can't completely remember," Amanda said as she turned in Lee's arms to face him.

"I might be able to help you with that, remembering I mean," Lee replied as his lips claimed hers, his hands moving down her back.

Amanda returned Lee's kiss as her hands sought to reciprocate Lee's touch. "I figured you could."

 **Sometime Later, Lee's Apartment**

"Lee Stetson, just what are you saying?" Amanda asked as she and Lee sat in the living room drinking coffee. Amanda just finished eggs and toast; they both were on their second cup of coffee. "That besides picking out the place for the reception, I am supposed to do everything else, the food, the flowers and—"

"Yeah, that's right," Lee said with his arm around Amanda's waist.

"Lee, you are going to help with some of the arrangements, aren't you?"

"I'm working on getting the location, aren't I?"

"I thought Billy was taking care of that…"

"Yeah, but I have to oversee things."

"Lee Stetson, you are incorrigible!"

"Besides I'm taking care of the other most important detail of our weekend…"

"And, what would that be?"

"The honeymoon of course," Lee said cheekily.

"Lee, you are driving me crazy."

"I am, am I?" Lee replied.

Amanda grabbed one of the nearby pillows and hit him on the head with it.

"I'm only kidding. Of course, I'll help out." Lee laughed.

"Mother actually wants to do most of it."

"If it makes her happy, why not let her do it?"

"I am mostly, but I'm keeping my eyes on her or our little list of forty people will be four hundred people."

"You're right," Lee replied back.

 **Amanda's House**

"Amanda Jean King, you have to be kidding. You mean to tell me that after being first separated and then divorced all this time, you finally decide to remarry and you decide to elope?"

"Well, Mother, Lee and I really felt as though we didn't want a wedding with all the fuss, that we only wanted something simple."

"What about all my plans? I just can't believe that you and Lee went off and eloped, and got married without telling me ahead of time."

"Mother, what are you talking about?"

"Young lady, I'm talking about your message, the one on the answering machine."

"Mother, you did listen to the entire message?"

"Oh, Amanda, you gave me such a scare when I heard your phone message. I thought you and Lee had run off and gotten married already."

"Well, Mother we haven't eloped yet. We want you and the boys to be there and a few other key people such as Francine and Billy."

"Well, I…hmm…once I heard the words elope I must admit I might have turned the machine off, I actually hit the erase button by mistake."

"Mother, you have to be careful. You might delete something important."

"I know, I know," Dotty said waving her hands in the air. "Well does that mean we can have more people at a reception now?"

"Yes."

"One hundred people then?"

"No."

"Sixty?"

"No mother, probably less than fifty people."

"What?"

"We were thinking forty people, maybe forty-five at the most."

"Amanda, dear, you can't be serious."

"Mother, I am very serious. With other people there, such as Billy, Francine and some people from the agency, the train dining car won't be able to hold many more people than that."

"The train?"

"Oh, yes that was on the machine as well. The reception is going to be on a train."

"Oh my gosh!"

"Mother, we can talk about it later." Amanda kissed her mother on the cheek. "I've got to go."

"But you only just got here."

"I know, Lee and I have an errand or two to run, we'll be back soon. He's waiting for me in the car." With that, Amanda was out the door.

"That girl!" Dotty said shaking her head. "Sometimes, I really do believe Amanda is worse than she was when she was a teenager."


	2. Chapter 2

Loves Journey: Chapter 2

 **Sunday Evening Amanda's House**

The boys sat down on the couch across from Amanda and Lee.

"Mom, Grandma said you had something to tell us," Philip started hesitantly.

"Is something wrong?" Jamie asked.

Amanda reached out and touched Jamie's arm. "No dear, nothing is wrong," Amanda looked around at Lee.

"No guys, everything is fine," Lee paused.

"Are you two breaking up?" Philip asked, breaking off Lee's sentence.

"Yeah?" Jamie sputtered.

"What would make you think we were breaking up?" Amanda asked.

"Well, we hardly saw you two together this week," Philip said.

"And you didn't come over for dinner," Jaimie finished.

"Yeah, well, fellas, this week was kind of well, strange…with the whole thing with your father. But I assure you that, Lee and I aren't breaking up."

"In fact, it's the furthest thing from the truth," Lee added. "Actually, your mother and I have decided that instead of waiting to get married, that we'd rather get married sooner if that's okay with you two."

"Yay!" Philip and Jamie exclaimed at the same time.

"So, when are you getting married?" Philip questioned.

"Well, in about two weeks," Lee answered.

"And instead of a traditional wedding, we are going to have a simple ceremony at the justice of the peace in Marion with just you guys, your grandmother along with our boss Billy and a co-worker a good friend Francine. Beside your grandmother, we haven't told anyone else yet."

"And we will have a reception after the ceremony," Lee added.

"How does that sound?" Amanda asked.

The boys looked at one another.

"It sounds great except…" Jamie said.

"Well, what's all the rush?" Philip asked.

"No reason, we are just ready to begin our life together as a family," Lee answered quickly, reaching out to touch Amanda's hand and grasp it in his tightly.

"You aren't pregnant are you mom?" Philip asked.

"What?" Amanda asked blushing.

"Because you seem in an awful hurry," Jamie answered.

"No, I am not pregnant."

"Whoa! Then we are excited too," Philip lamented. "Not that I would care if you had a baby. We just wouldn't want you to rush to get married because there was a baby."

Lee had to keep from laughing while Amanda looked thoroughly embarrassed.

"Okay, now that that is settled—we want to talk to you about the house," Amanda said quickly in an attempt to move the conversation along. "For now, we plan on living here, but we are going to start looking for a new house once we're married and hopefully move in about six months."

"Awesome!" The boys said in unison.

Amanda and Lee looked at one another with relief.

"Well, I suppose I should start heading home," Lee said and stood up.

"Boys, head on up, I'll walk Lee out."

"Goodnight boys!" Lee said and gave each of them a hug.

"Goodnight Lee," Jamie said.

"Goodnight Lee," Philip replied as well.

"I'll be up to say goodnight in a few," Amanda said to the boys.

Lee and Amanda walked to the door.

"Next, I suppose we need to tell Joe," Amanda said to Lee as they headed towards his car.

"Yeah, I suppose."

Lee pulled Amanda against his chest, as he hugged her tightly.

"Couldn't we just tell him after the wedding," Lee said, a smile in his voice, "would serve him right."

"Yeah, it would."

Lee pulled Amanda even closer to his chest. "You know, we have to go back and get your car in the morning from my apartment."

"Yeah?"

"So, I could just stay over. I mean I could sleep on the couch, but at least I'd be in the same house with you and the boys."

"Lee, you know you can stay over whenever you want. And you don't have to sleep on the couch. That was your idea about not staying over too often."

"Yeah, I suppose it was my idea."

"Come on. We can have a glass of milk and talk a little bit more before we head to bed."

"Sounds good," Lee answered.

"And there are some leftover brownies from the other day," Amanda added.

"Sounds yummy," Lee said kissing Amanda on the cheek just before they headed back inside.

"Hi Lee, Amanda," Dotty greeted them. "I thought you were headed home."

"Oh, Mother, Lee and I decided," Amanda began reluctantly, "That Lee would stay over tonight after all. I have to go back to his place to get my car anyway."

"Of course, Lee can stay here. He can stay over anytime." Dotty cooed. "And don't give me any stuff about him sleeping on the couch."

"Dotty—" Lee began.

"After all, the boys are old enough to know better. Amanda and I talked to the boys anyway. And the boys know that at this point in your relationship, you two are doing something besides holding hands."

Lee and Amanda looked at each other; their mouths gaped open.

"Goodnight, Dears!" Dotty said kissing each of them on the cheek as she headed upstairs.

"Your mother is something else."

"Yeah, she's definitely something." Amanda agreed. "Okay, about that milk and cookies."

"You know there's something we haven't talked about," Lee said as they sat down on the couch.

"What's that?" Amanda asked

"Whether we want to have kids or not, I mean kids of our own."

"Yeah, we really haven't talked about that."

"I wouldn't mind children, but if you don't want more children, I would understand," Lee said.

 _Hmm, what would it be like to have more children? Lee certainly was great with the boys, why would that keep him from being good with children of his own._ Amanda thought to herself.

"Amanda, you still with me?"

"Hmm?"

"I was asking you whether or not you had thought about having more children or not?"

"Truth be told, I haven't even thought about it one way or another."

"Oh, I see," Lee said disheartened.

Amanda put down her food and reached out and touched Lee's cheek. "It's not that I don't want to, have children with you…"

Lee looked on expectantly.

"As I said, I hadn't thought about it all that much, but it might be a possibility." Lee's face brightened. "Do you want children of your own?"

"I think I would, but whatever happens, we will decide together."

Amanda reached out and kissed Lee upon the lips as she leaned against his arm. "I agree."

"You know, trying might be fun," Lee said against Amanda's lips.

"Yeah, but I'm on the pill."

"But, what's the harm in practicing?"

"Lee Stetson!"

 **Authors' Notes: This story was written because I have a true love of Scarecrow and Mrs. King. I rediscovered it over a year ago and I have been enthralled with it ever since. I hope that you, the reader, will take the story as it was written, just for fun! This has been Beta read by two people. Any errors not caught, I take total responsibility for!**


	3. Chapter 3

Loves Journey: Chapter 3

 **Coffee Shop in Washington, DC**

Amanda sat at a table across from Joe. After their discussion with her family and the boys, the next best thing was to tell Joe about their quick plans for their wedding and subsequent reception. They'd exchanged a few pleasantries as they waited for their order. It was less than a week since she'd spoke with him at her house about the Meg Furrows situation and things between them were still strained.

"So, you're really going to marry him?" Joe asked incredulously.

"Yes, Joe, I really am going to marry Lee. Why are you so surprised by this news? You knew that we were engaged."

"Yes, but…" _But what? Did you really think that she was going to change her mind? That perhaps even though it's been six months or more that they've been dating, that perhaps you were dreaming?_ "I don't know, I guess I was still hoping…" Joe reached out and touched Amanda's hand.

Amanda pulled her hand back.

"What's all the rush?"

Joe looked away from Amanda, his mind a thousand miles away. He was silent before he turned back to her. "Well, what's all the rush about? Is there some other reason you two need to get married so soon?"

"Don't you start that too?"

"Too? What?"

"Never mind. Look, Lee and I are in love, pure and simple. We have been for quite some time; it took us a while to realize it and give into it but it's real. You're invited to the ceremony and of course there will be a reception afterward, about fifty-five guests or less."

 _Oh, just what I need._ Joe thought to himself. "Well, I don't think I'll be able to make it to the ceremony, but maybe the reception."

"The boys will be disappointed, but it's your choice."

"How did the boys take this sudden elopement?"

"They were actually happy, looking forward to it actually."

"Oh, I see."

There was a sudden silence.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know. Let me know if you change your mind about the wedding."

"I will."

The waiter arrived with their coffee. They talked quietly about Joe's new job and his housing situation. Amanda talked about the boys mostly, how they were fairing up in school. Once they were done with their drinks, Amanda said, "I have to go. Philip and Jamie went to the library. I have to pick them up."

"I'll take care of this," Joe said holding the check in his hands.

"Oh, thanks, Joe."

"Tell them I'll call tomorrow."

Joe stood up as Amanda stood. "I think I'll stay here a little longer." Joe kissed Amanda on the cheek.

Joe watched as Amanda left the restaurant and then sat down and called the waiter over. "Can I please have vodka on the rocks? You can add it to this bill."

Joe sat and looked across the room, his eyes focused on everything and nothing as he took several swallows of his drink. _Well, it's really real now._ Joe thought to himself. _They are so in love with one another that they are rushing to Marion to get married. And not only are they rushing off; they are inviting a few close people, himself included, probably only because he's the father of Amanda's sons._ Joe took another gulp of his alcohol and stared into the empty glass. _He raised his hand up to ask for another drink. Amanda seemed excited, the boys are happy, Amanda said. Well…he wasn't happy, but then whose fault was that?_

"Yes, Sir, can I help you with something, another drink?"

 _Joe paused for a second, as a sudden vision of the boys popped into his head._ "You know on second thought, I think I'll just have the updated bill."

"No problem sir!"

After paying the check, Joe headed towards the exit. _Back to my lonely hotel room_ ,Joe thought to himself as he turned a corner and ran smack dead into a woman carrying a load of dishes in her arms.

 **Amanda's Bedroom**

Amanda sat on her bed, her legs stretched out in front of her, her head against a pillow, her ear up to the phone. She smiled as she listened to Lee tell her about his conversation with Billy.

"Billy was a little surprised we wanted to go ahead and get married so quickly."

"Oh?"

"But he was happy."

"That's good."

"He also doesn't think there will be any problems with the reception on the train. He's going to make a few calls and get back to me tomorrow."

"Oh, that's good. I'll call Francine tomorrow; as you know she went home early—tooth bothering her, the one from the root canal. Once that is done, I will get the invitations done."

"Are you sure you will be able to get them done in time? We are getting married in three weeks?" Lee questioned her.

"Oh, it won't be a problem, that's one reason we changed it from the original two weeks, we were thinking of, to give us more time. Besides, I know someone from the PTA who works for a printing company. I've spoken with her already. She said as soon as I have the information, she can get them done right that day. And she is going to do it free of charge."

"That's good news."

"And my other friend from the PTA will get them out priority mail."

"Amanda, you never cease to amaze me."

Amanda could hear Lee's smile over the phone. "What?"

"Nothing, just that you would know someone, someone that can help us out that is. Who don't you know?"

"I don't know, the Pope maybe."

Lee laughed. "So, how did the conversation with Joe go?"

"Oh, about as I expected, he wasn't too happy about our wedding plans at all. And he said he wouldn't be coming to the ceremony, but maybe he would attend the reception."

"Of course! So, Joe!"

"Oh, before I forget, he wanted to know whether there was a reason we were rushing. Whether I might be pregnant."

"Of course, he would think that."

"Well, the boys thought it."

"It was funny when they said it; it's just damn right annoying coming from Joe."

"I agree, though I'm surprised my mother didn't say anything. What about Mr. Melrose?"

"No, he didn't ask anything."

There was silence for a moment before Amanda said, "Well, I guess I better get off the phone."

"Okay. Goodnight, Amanda."

"Goodnight, Lee. I love you."

"I love you too."


	4. Chapter 4

Loves Journey: Chapter 4

 **Conference Room IFF**

"Listen up people, make sure to wrap up any paperwork you have pending. The review board is slated to come around for a surprise visit very soon, so be on the lookout. Get any loose paperwork together, tie up any loose ends." Billy Melrose said as he looked around the conference room. "If there aren't any questions, you can leave."

When no one said anything, everyone stood up and headed towards the door.

"Lee, give me a minute," Amanda said to Lee.

"Sure."

"Francine," Amanda called out to Francine who was just stepping out the hall. "You got a minute?"

Francine stopped. "What's up?"

"Lee and I have decided to go ahead and get married—"

"Isn't that old news?" Francine interrupted Amanda.

"No, soon."

"How soon are we talking about?"

"In three weeks!"

"That is soon. Hey, what's with all the rush?" Francine raised an eyebrow. "Did you and Lee get caught without protection one night and now…"

Amanda looked around the hallway to see who if anyone was nearby. "No, nothing like that; we've just decided that we would like to go ahead and get married now. It was actually Lee's idea."

"Well Amanda King, you are just full of surprises, aren't you? Whatever did you do to Lee to propose in the first place is still beyond me and now to speed things up?

"Francine!"

"I'm only teasing Amanda," she reached out and touched Amanda's arm. "I'm very happy for you and Lee. Anything I can do to help just let me know."

"Yes, there's something you can do for us, for me specifically. We are planning on a small ceremony in Marion with a small reception later in the afternoon. Lee has asked Billy to be his best man, and I'd like you to be my maid of honor."

Francine's face formed on "O" in surprise. "Amanda, I don't know what to say?"

"Say yes!"

"Yes, I would love to."

Amanda touched Francine's arm. "Thank you, that means a lot to me. I know you really didn't like me that much when I first came to the agency—"

"Not like is a strong word, jealous was more like it."

"Jealous of me?"

"Yes jealous of you!"

"Amanda, Francine!" Billy's voice echoed in the hall. "That better be office work you two are talking about." But, then he winked only so they could see.

"Yes, Sir!" Amanda answered.

"We can talk about it later," Amanda said.

"How about we go out soon? I'll take you to this really nice restaurant and bar and get you drunk and I'll tell you everything, well mostly everything."

"I'd like that."

Francine went down the hall, and Amanda walked to the elevators.

The Q-Bureau

"So, what did Francine say?" Lee questioned pulling Amanda into his arms and kissing her.

"She said she would love to be my maid of honor," Amanda answered returning Lee's kiss.

"Then we're nearly all set."

"She said something funny though."

"Francine tell a joke?" Lee snickered.

"Not funny ha ha, but funny strange; she said that she was jealous of me."

"Oh? Did she say why she was jealous?"

"No, that's when Mr. Melrose came down the hall and shouted that we'd better be talking about work. He winked afterward though, but we went ahead and ended the conversation. She and I are going to go out soon, and we'll talk more about it then."

"Oh, I see."

"You two dated for a bit, didn't you?"

Lee pulled back a little. "Yeah, sort of, kind of. You know, we played backgammon a time or two."

"Yeah, I know what that means."

"Amanda I don't have any secrets. You know I had a past, and Francine was, you know, just a part of it."

"Hmm hmm."

"Don't tell me you're jealous."

"Of course not."

Lee gave her a look that said he believed otherwise.

"Not really, not anymore, but you must admit Lee Stetson, when I first met you, there was one woman after another."

"You weren't interested in me, so why did it matter."

"I never said I wasn't interested. You were the one always making it clear that I knew you weren't interested."

"Did I?"

"Yes, you did."

"Well, you scared me. I think I knew right away that there was something there; something special about you, but it frightened me, sometimes even more than being a spy. I'm not sure what Francine was jealous about, maybe she was just jealous about the work that you do. I do know one thing though."

"What's that?"

"That you don't need to be jealous, about Francine or any other woman. My past is exactly that, my past. Because there were so many, well, ugh—"

"Get on with it Stetson."

"You know, once I figured out that it was truly you I wanted; it's was easy to let go of all that other stuff, women included."

"Stetson!" Amanda kissed Lee sensuously on the mouth then pulled back reluctantly. "We better get to that paperwork."

"Yeah." Lee ran his hand along Amanda's back, gave her one last kiss then turned and sat down at his desk. As he did so, he glanced at Amanda for a moment and thought about just how lucky he was. The best day of his life was meeting Amanda King at the train station.

"What is it?" Amanda asked catching Lee staring off in space.

"Nothing. Just thinking about how lucky I was that day I met you at the train station."

"Aw! I think I was pretty darn lucky myself."

 **Amanda's House Hours Later:**

"Lee, I just realized something."

"What's that Amanda?"

"I don't see your uncle's name on either of these lists."

"Oh? That's because I'm not sending him an invitation."

"Lee Stetson! You have to be kidding!" Dotty shouted walking through the living room.

"You know that we aren't all that close," Lee retorted. "What's the point inviting trouble? We have enough of that with Joe," Lee said quietly.

"He's still family," Dotty said.

"Mother's right!"

Lee started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Amanda asked.

"I already knew you would insist that I invite him, so I called him instead and invited him personally."

"Did you really?"

"Yes, I did."

"I think I'll put a personal invite in the mail just in case," Amanda retorted back.

"Suit yourself."

"Did we miss anyone else?"

"Did you get Mrs. Gilstrap?" Dotty asked, headed towards the stairs.

"Yes, mother."

"Are you sure we can't invite the women from my garden club?"

"Yes, I'm sure. If by chance most or all of them wanted to come, that would mess up our count."

"Okay, I'm going upstairs and let you finish up."

"Goodnight!" Amanda said rolling her eyes up to the ceiling.

"Night Amanda, Lee!"

"Goodnight Dotty!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **Paul Barnes' Apartment**

After a long day at his freelance securities job, Paul entered his apartment, an order of takeout in one hand, his mail in the other hand. He placed the mail along with the food on the dining room table. He quickly showered and changed clothes into a pair of comfortable black pants and a cream-colored top. As he sat down to eat his shrimp sushi bowl, he picked up his mail and quickly skimmed through the envelopes.

"Bill, bill, junk," he read out loud as he sorted out the mail. "More junk, won't they ever stop? What's this, this looks interesting, something from Amanda King and Lee—what?"

Paul held the envelope in his hand and thought back for a moment. Amanda King, the housewife from Arlington. _Well, damn! Scarecrow, you are full of surprises._ He didn't even know Lee was seeing anyone, let alone the lovely housewife that had helped him and Lee out at the airport. He was quite impressed and taken by her. Her ability to outwit the Russian woman who was assisting Serdeych using Russian she learned from tapes, nonetheless! Brilliant! And she is beautiful! He noticed just how attractive she was when she helped Lee lift him from the ground after being shot with blanks.

Paul opened the envelope and quickly read the contents of the invitation. "Please join us for a wedding reception to celebrate the nuptials of Amanda Jean King and Lee Stetson.

 _I'll be damn!_ _He hadn't seen that coming. Lee Stetson engaged and getting married in less than three weeks? To a mother of two?_ He'd heard some of the rumors from the steno pool of course, about her being a divorced, single mother of two young boys. It was some time since he was in contact with Scarecrow. He'd meant to get in touch with Lee, but he'd been so busy.

He'd also wanted to get in touch with Mrs. King. After he left Washington, he'd phoned IFF to say thanks for helping him and Lee out. And well, maybe to see if he could coax her into going to dinner with him when he came back to the states. He'd never been able to reach her. He was planning on coming to the states soon anyway, and he was going to ask her out then. "Well, looks that it's too late now…"

Paul took several bites of his sushi bowl, took a few swigs of his Sake then picked up his phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Vera, hi this is Paul. I need you to book a hotel and plane reservations for me. I need to be there Saturday, three weeks from now." After a pause, Paul replied, "I'm going to Washington, DC. Okay, thank you!"

 **Palace of Princess Penny and Prince Rheza Khan**

Princess Penny was sitting in the nursery of the palace when she heard a faint knock on the door. "Come in," she replied as she placed her sleeping baby in his crib.

"This came for your Highness," A young man in his 20's said as he handed it to her. _It's been open already, of course. For once, she'd like to open her mail herself._ The Princess thought to herself, her face forming into a frown. She turned over the envelope and noticing the handwriting even before she read the return address; she began to smile. She opened it and read it quickly. _I knew it; I knew that there was more to their relationship than Amanda had let on._

"Your Highness?" The servant questioned.

"Oh, I'm sorry." _She'd completely forgotten that the servant was still there._ "Can you ask the Prince to come here, please?"

"Yes your Highness!"

"Thank you!"

The servant bowed and left.

"What is it?" Prince Rheza Khan asked as he entered the nursery, placing his hand on the Princesses' back.

"Do you remember Mr. Stetson and Mrs. King?"

"Yes, from the United States? She's sent you another letter?"

"Yes, she's sent us an invitation to her wedding, to Mr. Stetson!"

"The agent that helped protect us?

"Yes, they are getting married in three weeks. Apparently, they are having a small ceremony and a reception. They've kindly invited us to both. Amanda says right here in the letter that she knows it's short notice and that we have lots of pressing matters and she isn't expecting us to come but—" The Princess stopped as she realized that she was indeed rambling.

"How can I say anything, but yes?" The Prince questioned.

The Highness swung her arms around her husband's neck and kissed him firmly on the lips.

"What would one of the servants say if they came in here?" The Prince asked.

"I don't know, let's ring for one of them and find out."

 **Lady Farnsworth's Mansion**

Lady Farnsworth just finished her third cup of tea. She'd looked through all of her mail and even read all the important mail. She put her glasses back on, picked up the invitation from the states and reread it again. _Well, this is a lovely surprise! She knew that there was something there between the two of them even though the few times she'd mentioned it to Lee, he'd been adamant about his and Amanda's partnership being strictly business._ "I'm so glad to see that Amanda was able to get through to Lee and whittle away at his hardened heart."

 _And Amanda was just as stubborn. During one of her visits to Washington, when she mentioned something in passing to Amanda about what a good catch Lee would make, Amanda simply shrugged off the thought. "Mrs. Farnsworth," she'd said. "Lee and I aren't, well, we aren't romantic, we aren't involved or anything."_

" _I know that dear, but don't you think he would make someone a very happy woman?" And she'd stared directly at Amanda._

" _I don't know…" Amanda had stumbled over her words, something that she'd never seen her do in the three times that she'd seen her._

" _I didn't necessarily mean you, but then he just might make you a happy woman."_

" _Mrs. Farnsworth!" Amanda had blushed then turned away._

"Well, looks like Lee will be making Amanda a very happy woman after all and warm an old lady's heart at the same time."

Mrs. Farnsworth called out to her servant, "Jenkins, can you come here for a moment?" "Yes, madam?" The elderly gentleman asked when he arrived. "More tea?"

"No Jenkins. I need you to phone the airlines and make a reservation for me. It looks like I'll be going to Washington, DC for a wedding celebration."

"Yes, ma'am!"


	6. Chapter 6

Love's Journey: Chapter 6

 **Amanda's House**

Dotty was in the kitchen finishing up some breakfast and was about to put something on for Amanda to eat when the phone started ringing. She rushed to the phone quickly, glancing at a sleeping Francine on the sofa. "Hello," she answered quietly. "Oh, hi Lee!"

"Good morning, Dotty! Can I speak to Amanda, please?"

"Good morning, Lee! Amanda hasn't come down yet. I think she's still asleep," she finished hesitantly.

"Not up yet? Is she feeling okay?" Lee asked, worry in his voice.

"I would imagine she has a slight headache from her, ugh, time out with Francine last night. Francine was so drunk; she couldn't even drive."

"What about Amanda?" Lee was shaking his head, finding it difficult to believe that Amanda would allow herself to get drunk and Francine, well, that was unusual as well but—

"No, Amanda wasn't that bad, but she was a little tipsy."

"How in the…" Lee cut off the swear word that was about to leave his lips, "I mean, how did they get home?"

"Amanda, of course, had the good sense to call me to come and get them."

"Why didn't she call me? She knew where I was."

"She didn't want to disturb your time with Billy and weren't your uncle and someone from work going out with you as well?"

"Yeah! Well, can you tell her to call me when she gets up?"

"Okay, I will."

Dotty hung up the phone and shook her head several times as she looked in on Amanda's friend Francine. The two of them had gone out for drinks to celebrate Amanda's upcoming nuptials. She was happy to hear that Amanda would be doing something with someone from work. In fact, she'd been elated since for so long she really hadn't known the truth about Amanda's job, and she certainly hadn't known much of anything about the people she worked with. But when Amanda phoned and asked her to come and pick them up, well she was quite surprised. It was now Saturday morning, and Francine was still knocked out.

As she'd told Lee over the phone, Amanda wasn't in that bad of shape; but she was smart enough to know not to drive. Her friend Francine, on the other hand, was tipsy for sure, to put it mildly.

"Good morning, Mother!" Amanda said, entering the kitchen and kissing Dotty on the cheek, and left as quickly as she came.

"Hi Dear, I didn't know you were up. I thought you were still asleep."

"I just got out of the shower; I'm feeling better now," Amanda said.

"Good. Sleeping in was probably good for you, it is after nine o'clock."

"Oh, my gosh is it really that late?" Amanda questioned. "I was hoping the clock was wrong."

"No, it's right. Before I forget, Lee phoned. I just hung up with him a few minutes ago. He wants you to call him back."

"Ok, I will, are these pancakes for me?" Amanda stepped over to the phone and dialed Lee's number back.

"Yes, Dear, those are for you."

"Thanks, I better phone Lee, he's supposed to be over here soon," Amanda replied.

Dotty finished up a few more pancakes while Amanda talked with Lee.

When Amanda hung up, Dotty was saying; "That was a quick phone call."

"Yeah, it was. Lee and I have some errands. That's why he was calling, to see if I'd be ready by ten."

"Should I fix some pancakes for your friend too?"

"Oh I almost forgot she was still here," Amanda said touching her head with the palm of her fingertips.

"It's okay Amanda, she might be awake by the time you leave, but if not, she can wait here; I'll be home for a bit. The boys won't be back from their sleepover for a while yet. I'll fix her something if she's hungry."

"Okay, Mother."

"But what I want to know before Lee gets here is what happened last night? You rarely ever get intoxicated."

"I don't know; I guess I didn't have enough food in my system."

"You know it really is okay if you want to kick it up and have a good time before you get married again.

"Mother, I'm sorry."

"Amanda, you know, it really is fine," Dotty said patting the chair next to her for Amanda to sit. "You know I'm so proud of you. You are a great mother to the boys, a wonderful daughter to me, and I can't say I was all that happy about things when I found out the truth, but I'm proud of you where your job is concerned too."

Amanda smiled at Dotty. "Thank you, Mother."

"And from what I hear, you do a great job as a—" she snapped her fingers. "What's the word again, Dear?"

"An operative," Amanda said softly.

"Yeah, as an operative; how many mothers can say that?"

"Not many, Mother," Amanda answered with a smile in her voice.

"Now, do you want to explain to me exactly what happened? I thought from the sound of things, from what you've told me, Francine can handle her alcohol rather easily."

"Well, that's just the thing mother, I thought as much myself."

"Then what happened?"

"We met up for dinner as planned. We both ordered a salad and fettuccine. For some reason, it took forever for our food to come. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and even then, it was a few bites of cereal and peanut butter and marshmallows."

"Yeah, you and I both were sharing," Dotty replied with a laugh.

"So, anyway, as you know, she picked me up and then headed towards the restaurant and bar."

 _Flashback_

"So, Francine, where are you taking me?" Amanda inquired from the inside of Francine's car.

"Someplace to get you good and drunk," Francine half-joked.

"Very funny, I never get drunk; I only drink what I can handle. You go ahead and drink as much as you want, I can drive us home."

"I can be the designated driving."

"Why should you be the designated driver?"

"Because I'm an expert at doing this, drinking a lot and not allowing the alcohol to get to me. Why I had a case once where I was challenged to drink two bottles of Vodka with two Russian agents, and both of them were done before we barely made it to the second bottle."

Amanda didn't reply; she only arched an eyebrow. "So what's so special about this restaurant?"

It was on the far south side of Washington, D.C., hardly any other restaurants, yet it stood out. "The food is great, the drinks are good, AND the music on the jukebox is amazing. And the people are friendly."

"I see," Amanda was surprised by Francine's comment about friendly people. She'd always sort of saw Francine as a loner.

Sure enough, as soon as they walked in, people were saying hello, greeting Francine by name. The bartender was about sixty, short and bald with Santa Clause cheeks his body as round as a hamburger.

"So, whatcha havin' Francine? And who's your friend?" The bartender asked.

"Something special tonight Frank and this is Amanda. I'm afraid she's spoken for, she's getting married in a few days, so don't go getting any ideas. Besides, doesn't your wife still pop in here every night, just about this time—"

Almost as if like clockwork, a tall, redhead entered the restaurant and walked over to the bar. She didn't say much, mostly gave Frank a look, placed a bag on the bar and with a quick kiss on his cheek.

"See!"

"She loves me," Frank said as he opened his dinner.

"She's checking on him, that's what she's doing," Amanda said quietly as she and Francine sat in a booth.

"Yeah, you got that? That's what I always thought, too." Francine replied. "She comes in here like that a lot."

"Same time?" Amanda asked.

"No, a different time and sometimes she doesn't come at all, but she doesn't miss too many nights." There was a pause. "Amanda King, I must admit it, you have great instincts, you are very intuitive."

"Thank you, Francine."

"You're welcome!" Francine looked away from Amanda then and grabbed a menu. "So, what do you have a taste for?"

"I'm flexible."

"You nervous about your big day with Scarecrow?"

"No, not really."

Francine gave Amanda a look.

"Okay, maybe a little."

"Well, who wouldn't be? It's a big step. I still can't believe that Lee Stetson's getting married."

"And to me of all people, I know," Amanda sighed.

Francine put down her menu and looked at Amanda and commented in earnest. "Yes, to you of all people. I know that in the past, I've said a lot of things, that weren't very nice…" she paused, "but Amanda you are the best thing that ever happened to Lee."

"Francine," Amanda stammered, "I really, don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. Now let's order some food, I'm starved."

 _End of Flashback_

"We never got to eat our pasta, well, not right away anyway."

"Amanda, why not?"

"Well, we started talking, and we ordered some drinks."

"And?"

"And, well then…"


	7. Chapter 7

Love's Journey: Chapter 7

 **Amanda's House**

 _Flashback_

" _Can I have another drink? My friend is still on her first drink."_

 _Amanda simply smiled and took another sip of her gin and tonic._

" _Why don't you bring her another drink anyway? Bring her what I'm having."_

" _Francine!"_

" _Amanda, live a little."_

" _Okay, two vodka martinis," the waiter said and walked away._

" _So, how do you think Lee's feeling about the whole thing?" Francine asked._

" _I don't know, probably afraid as well."_

" _Maybe, but then maybe not," Francine said casually. "I think once Lee knows what he wants, he goes after it and once Lee decided, well, that he wanted you, needed you actually, he went after you with fierceness. You know, kind of like he does with his job."_

 _Amanda laughed. "I would say that's true."_

" _He may be scared of something else though," Francine said._

" _Scared? Of what?" Amanda asked._

" _Well, I think he's afraid of losing you," Francine said very sincerely._

" _Oh, I don't know about that-"_

" _No?"_

" _He has nothing to worry about."_

 _Francine arched an eyebrow._

" _Oh, do you mean Joe? He and I are through."_

" _But I saw the way Joe was looking at you. And, I'm sure Lee noticed too."_

" _Well, he might've been looking, but it doesn't matter."_

" _Here you go ladies," the waiter returned with their drinks along with their salads. "The pasta will be out shortly."_

" _What about you Francine?"_

 _Francine took several sips of her second drink._

" _What?"_

" _You think you'll ever get married?"_

" _I don't know, at one time I thought I would."_

" _What happened?"_

" _I was stood up at the alter just before our wedding."_

" _Oh, Francine, I didn't know,"_ Amanda said clearly upset.

" _It's okay but let's not bring that up tonight."_

" _Well, what about the other thing you were going to tell me?"_

" _What? Oh, yeah, that!" Francine took a few more sips of her drink. "I was jealous because of two things, one because of my past with Lee and because Billy gave you a lot of cases that should've gone to me."_

" _Oh, Francine, I, well…"_

" _No, Amanda, it's okay. I see now that I shouldn't have been jealous. Lee, well is Lee. He needed someone like you to help ground him," Francine paused for a moment and then downed the rest of her drink._

" _Francine, I don't know what to say."_

" _Amanda, it's not like Lee and I were ever serious."_

 _Yeah, Lee said as much. Amanda thought to herself._

" _Just mostly went out on cases, a little fun-"_

" _I know, a little backgammon," Amanda took sips from her second drink. "Yes, Lee and I've talked about it, well, a little and it is well…okay."_

 _There was an awkward silence when the waiter stepped up. "Ladies, I'm sorry, but it will be a little longer for your pasta. I'm sorry, but the chef made you the wrong dish."_

" _That's okay," Francine said. "Well, let me have another drink."_

 _They finished off their salads and talked about work a little, some of the cases last week as well as some of the last minute details of Amanda's wedding._

" _Yeah, mother has been a big help," Amanda lamented._

" _That's nice."_

 _The waiter walked over again. "Your pasta will be out in a few minutes. How about two more drinks, on us, for waiting so long?"_

" _Sure," Francine said, her voice slurring just a little. "That will make my fourth drink. How about two vodka shots?"_

 _Amanda was just finishing her second drink; she opened her mouth to say no, but said, "Sure," instead._

 _Finally, their food came out, but they were almost too distracted to eat it. They both took a few bites and then Francine stood up and said, "What about some music Amanda?" And without waiting for an answer, she sauntered over to the jukebox, pulling Amanda with her._

" _Amanda! Amanda!" Francine began calling out loudly._

" _What is it, Francine?"_

" _Is it me, or is it beginning to get hot in here?" Francine pulled at the long sleeve blouse she had on, tugged at the collar and then rolled up the sleeves._

" _Hot?" Amanda repeated, unbuttoning the top button of her blouse. "Now that you mention it, it is rather hot in here."_

 _They stood and glared at the jukebox. "What about this song, Francine?" Amanda asked pointing to a song on the jukebox._

" _Amanda King, I wouldn't think you'd like Elton John!"_

" _Francine Desmond that just shows you what you know-NOTHING!" Amanda sputtered back at Francine and giggled a little which set Francine off into full-fledged laughter. A few men at the bar glanced their way._

" _Whatcha looking at?" Francine asked as she walked over to one of them._

" _You, cutie!" One of them said._

" _Oh!" Francine retorted as the music started to play and Elton's John's "Benny and the Jets" belted out loudly._

 _End of Flashback_

"Next thing I know, she's standing up, flipping her hair and headed towards the bar."

"Well, what did you do?" Dotty asked.

"I think by this time I was feeling the alcohol myself…and that was that," Amanda finished up. "Next thing I know, Francine is headed towards a bar stool and climbing up on top of the bar, and she is belting out Benny and the Jets, off key."

"Yes, Amanda?"

"Yes, what?" Amanda asked.

"And just what were you doing?"

"Hmm, I was right up there with her," Amanda answered quietly.

Dotty laughed at the image of her daughter, her Amanda on top of a bar. "Then what happened?"

"That's when Francine slipped and fell off the bar. She didn't hurt herself, but that's when I knew that we needed, well, a ride home."

"Hmm?"

"Because when I reached down to assist her, I felt a little dizzy myself."

"Ugh!" Moaned Francine from the sofa as she sat up and placed her hand to her head. "What happened? Where am I?"

Amanda and Dotty glanced at each other and burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Francine questioned holding her hand up to her head.


	8. Chapter 8

Love's Journey: Chapter 8

 **Amanda's House**

By the time Lee arrived, Francine was dressed, but was looking rather peaked. "What the hell happened to you?" Lee asked, looking directly at Francine.

"Your fiancée happened," Francine lamented, finding it difficult to sit up straight.

"What?" Lee questioned back.

"I don't know; I don't usually get drunk, I've lasted with the best Soviet agents and had them under the table…" Francine said.

"Francine, didn't you say you were taking some medicine? Remember, you took a pill last night?" Amanda inquired.

"Oh, yeah, I went back to the dentist the other day, and I had some more work done with my root canal. He gave me some meds."

"And didn't he tell you not to drink when you take them?" Amanda asked.

"Well, yeah, but whoever listens to that?" Francine answered.

"Francine!" Amanda admonished.

"Francine, you've got to be kidding." Lee said, then turned to Amanda and asked, "Are you ready, Amanda and I have some errands to run. Francine, we can drop you on the way."

 **Lee's Car**

"So, Dotty tells me you needed a ride home last night," Lee began.

"Oh, did she?"

"Since when do you get drunk?"

"I wasn't drunk, just a little dizzy."

"Uh huh! Anything about last night you want to tell me?"

"No, not really."

"You know your mother will tell me," Lee said, but Amanda cut him off.

"Lee Stetson, you wouldn't dare!"

"Wouldn't I?"

"Well," Amanda said slowly, "it started with Francine picking me up for dinner and some drinks—"

By the time Amanda finished, Lee was laughing so hard; he thought he was going to have to pull over and stop the car.

"I'd give anything to see you and Francine standing up on a bar dancing to Benny and the Jets."

"I bet you would."

"Just imagine, Amanda King, on top of a bar!"

"Okay, buster!"

Lee pulled up to the bakery.

"How was last night with Billy, Beaman and your uncle?" Amanda asked once Lee had the car fully stopped.

"Apparently, it wasn't as much fun as what you did last night."

"Funny!"

"Oh, it was the usual. But I can tell you about that later when we stop for lunch."

"Lunch?"

"Yes, most of our errands are near one another, by the time we're finished, we'll be ready to grab something to eat."

"Okay."

"Besides the sooner we finish, the sooner we can have some fun."

"Fun? What did you have in mind?" Amanda asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, but if you are game, so am I," Lee said, mischievously.

"Lee Stetson!"

"I'm only kidding. I thought that you, me and the boys—wait, will the boys be back later?"

"Oh, I was going to talk to you about that," Amanda interrupted him.

"Joe again?"

"Yeah, he called and asked if they wanted to go out with him to the car show. Apparently, he was able to get tickets."

"Oh, I see."

"Mother, left it entirely up to them, but from what mother said neither one of them seemed too excited. They've been less happy to hear from him since that episode with Meg Furrows. Besides, they can see straight through him. They're getting older now."

"That's the third time this week. Amanda don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Joe seeing his children. In fact, I'd love for him to see more of them, but I'm beginning to think that he is just using them to try to get to see you."

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that," Amanda commented thoughtfully.

"I can talk with him." Amanda paused, and then said, "Well, I'm sure mother would be happy to have you over—pizza and a few games of cards or Scrabble."

"Okay, well, let's go and see about this cake," Lee took Amanda's arm and helped her out of the car.

 **Nearby Restaurant**

While eating lunch, Lee and Amanda went over there to do list to see if there was anything else that they could do that day.

"So, you want to tell me about last night now?"

"Well, Billy arrived first. He and I shot some pool, had a few drinks. The colonel came a little later and then Beaman. Everything was fine, but then the colonel said his usual, 'oh it was so difficult raising a young boy,' talked about how stubborn I was and that it is a good thing that I met you…"

"Well, I have to agree with him there."

"But you know what?"

"What?"

"Billy put him in his place in only the way Billy could."

 _Flashback_

" _Well, Lee is a fine agent. He's one the finest agents I've had the pleasure of working with. He is great with Amanda and her boys; going out with them and always looking out for Amanda. And I've watched how he's grown over the years. So, another game of pool and more drinks, anyone?"_

 _End of Flashback_

"Ah!" Amanda reached out and touched Lee's cheek.

"Just the usual stuff," Lee said sadly.

"Well, I can vouch for you. You know I have your back."

"I know, and I have yours."

They sat there looking at one another for a moment.

"So, what about Beaman? What did he do that was so bad?"

"He was well, you know, just being Beaman."

Amanda chuckled at Lee's statement.

"Beaman had way too much to drink, could hardly stand straight. If you think Francine was drunk, Beaman made her look sober."

"Oh!" Amanda said sadly. _She knew all too well how he always got drunk at the Christmas parties._

"But after some snacks, he sobered up," Lee said.

"That's good!"

"Then, I tell you, Billy gave us all a run for our money, leaving poor Beaman with little to no money at the end. I at least had a little left. Even the Colonel was left with little cash at the end of the night."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"You weren't there."

"No, I wasn't."

Amanda took a bite of her food before saying, "Look, we're almost done with anything we can get done with today."

"Yeah, I suppose so, just running by the photographers. Why, what do you have in mind?"

"How about the two of us do something fun, go run and see a movie and afterwards, by that time, we can head back to my house and then we'll play Scrabble with mother."

"Amanda, I never thought I'd say this, but I'd love to go back to your house for a game of Scrabble."

"I love you."

"And I love you, Amanda."


	9. Chapter 9

Loves Journey: Chapter 9

Authors Note: This chapter is mostly rated NC-17. If you are under 18 or are uncomfortable, you may wish to read the beginning and then go to chapter ten.

I hope that you are enjoying reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Any comments or questions are greatly appreciated.

 **Amanda's House**

Lee stepped into the foyer carrying a small bag of groceries and some videos in his hand. He glanced towards the stove; a delicious aroma was coming from the oven. Amanda must be upstairs; Lee thought as he put away the groceries. When he'd left a half hour ago, she said she might take a shower while he was gone. Dotty was away for the weekend; the boys were with their father. He and Amanda had the entire house to themselves; they'd decided to finish up the day with good food, wine, and some movies. While she started dinner, he'd stepped out to get some remaining items and the movies.

Lee headed up the stairs. "Aman—" Was frozen on his lips as he stood in the doorway of Amanda's bedroom door and he stopped dead in his tracks. Amanda was sitting in the chair, her feet perched on top of the ottoman, her head rested against the back of the chair, a book across her lap and she was sound asleep. She was wearing one of his shirts, one he left over when they took the family out after work, and he'd changed into casual clothes. Lee walked further into the room, and as he did so, he noticed that the shirt was half buttoned and her long bare legs were poking from under it. Amanda smelled fresh from a shower, her hair was slightly damp, and her skin was glistening. She looked absolutely radiant.

She must really be tired; it was a grueling week. If it wasn't work, it was something with the kids or with getting ready for their wedding. This was their last free weekend before their wedding. Since the boys were with their father for the weekend and Dotty went on a retreat with her garden club, they'd planned some time together which included movies, food, and a little romance. He'd let her sleep; he'd go downstairs and check the food in a bit. _Let me just move this book and maybe drape a blanket over her._ Lee thought as he reached down and removed the book from Amanda's lap and placed it on the dresser. Amanda flinched from the feel of the book leaving her lap, opened her eyes and sat up with a start. "Lee?" Amanda called out his name, swiping her hand across her eyes.

"Hi!" He whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you…" Lee said, his hand touching hers.

"It's okay."

"You looked so peaceful."

"I guess I was more tired than I realized; after putting the lasagna in the oven, I showered then sat down here to relax for a minute, or so I thought."

Lee sat on the arm of the chair. "I'm sorry this week has been so exhausting."

"It's okay. All the planning will be done soon, and then we'll be before we know it," Amanda pulled herself up to a full seated position.

"Yes, this time next weekend." Amanda smiled up at Lee.

"Amanda, can I ask you a question?" Lee said, running his hands up the arm of her shirt.

"Yes?"

"What exactly are you wearing?"

"Don't you know a shirt when you see one?" Amanda answered saucily.

"Yeah, I know a shirt when I see it! It is my shirt, but what are you wearing under it?"

"Oh, do you want to see?" Amanda opened a few of the top buttons to reveal that she indeed was braless.

Lee's breath caught in his chest. "Amanda!"

"Well, when I got out of the shower," Amanda began slowly, "your shirt was the first thing I saw. Do you mind?"

Lee leaned down and spoke into Amanda's ear. "Mind? Hell no! You look sexy as hell in it!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Lee's hands inched along Amanda's neck. "You still tired?"

"Not a bit," Amanda snaked her hands around Lee's neck pulling him forward for a quick kiss.

"How much longer before the food is ready?" Lee asked raking his fingers along Amanda's neck, his lips moving to her ear.

"About an hour or so, why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering," Lee murmured, his eyes skimming the length of Amanda's body as he began undoing more buttons, his fingers brushing the sides of each breast.

"You want to watch the movies now? What did you get?" Amanda asked, sucking in her breath.

"I got Arsenic and Old Lace and Romancing the Stone," Lee said, his hands reaching inside the shirt, his fingers caressing one of Amanda's nipples while his lips explored the nape of Amanda's neck.

"We should just buy them," Amanda replied, her hands moving down Lee's back.

"I just did!"

"Good!" By this time, Amanda wasn't sure what she was saying 'good' to. Her body was responding so quickly to Lee's touches. Even after all this time being with him intimately, she was still amazed at the way Lee made her feel, how easily her body reacted to his touches.

"You smell so good, and you do look amazing in this shirt," Lee's lips claimed Amanda's lips, kissing her fervently. He had never loved anyone like this before. He wanted Amanda in ways he'd never even imagined; to experience her like he'd never experienced a woman before. His desire for her went far past anything physical, yet there certainly was a physical attraction for her.

Lee's fingers expertly released more buttons until the shirt was completely open. Lee kissed Amanda deep and hard then pulled back so he could take a good look at her. "Beautiful!" Lee murmured, his fingers teasing Amanda's nipples, his fingers moving down towards Amanda's rib cage and then her stomach and further towards her thighs his mouth and tongue following suit.

"Lee," Amanda cooed.

Lee paused and leaned back and stood up. "Amanda, stand up for me, please!" Lee murmured.

Amanda stood up shakily, her knees nearly buckling, quivering from desire. In one swift move, Lee Lifted Amanda in his arms and released the shirt from her body all at the same time, his lips reclaiming Amanda's. He then made his way towards the bed, noticed the pile of laundry, raised an eyebrow; turned around and gently lay Amanda down on the discarded shirt. Lee kneeled between her legs using his knees to open her legs. Lee quickly pulled his shirt up and over his head.

Amanda reached for Lee's belt buckle, unzipped his pants and snatched them down over his buttocks, along with his boxers. Amanda reached between them, her hand massaging Lee's most intimate place while her other hand moved up Lee's back. "Amanda!"

She loved the feel of him in her hands. Amanda caressed him several more times.

 _He wasn't sure he could take it much longer._ "Ooh! I must, oh!" Lee reached between them to still Amanda's hand, kicked his pants and underwear further down with the intent of removing them completely, but the feel of Amanda's hands on his buttocks and her wetness beneath him, Lee quickly abandoned that idea and thrust into Amanda. "Amanda! Amanda! Amanda!" Lee screamed out with each thrust.

"Leeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Amanda sang out as Lee moved inside her one last time as she succumbed to passion at the same time as Lee's release. Amanda wrapped her arms tightly around Lee and held on tight as their bodies calmed down.

"There are no words to," Amanda breathed out.

"Exactly!"

"Lee, I…" Amanda paused at the sound of something coming from the kitchen.

"Amanda, what is it?"

"Oh my gosh! It's the smoke alarm!" Amanda exclaimed.

"The oven!" They said at the same time.

"I'll go!" Lee yelled out.

"Okay, I'll get dressed and meet you downstairs."

Lee quickly pulled up his boxers and his pants and swiftly ran down the stairs.

When Lee arrived in the kitchen, the room was filled with smoke. Some of the juices from the pan had spilled over and caused the alarm to go off. The food itself was fine, in fact, the timer still had a several minutes to go; but Lee turned the oven off, opened the oven and back door so that he could release some of the fumes. It didn't take long for them to get the smell out of the kitchen and could turn the oven back on. A little while later, he and Amanda were seated at the kitchen table eating salad and lasagna and drinking wine.

"So, Amanda King, you didn't finish folding the laundry? You must've been exhausted."

"Well, as I said, I took a shower after putting in the lasagna. What I didn't tell you," Amanda said quietly, "was that I was going to fold the clothes, but then I thought well, what would Lee tell me to do right now if I was tired?"

"What?"

"I knew that you would tell me to rest," Amanda continued ignoring his question.

"What, you listened to me for once?"

"Aren't you glad I did?" Amanda retorted back her fork up to her mouth as she took a bite of the cheese and sauce, allowing some to hang on her fork for a second before she placed it to her mouth. "Delicious!" Amanda said as she slowly chewed the lasagna then licked her lips to remove the removing sauce.

"Huh? Oh, yes!" Lee absentmindedly said. "If you keep that up, we're never gonna get to those movies, and this time, we'll be down here in the living room on the floor."

Despite herself, Amanda blushed, but returned Lee's comment by saying, "Yeah? You give it; I can take it; Buster!" Amanda leaned in and stroked her fingernails along Lee's bare chest. He'd never gotten around to putting on a shirt.

Lee's eyes widened and a smile spread across his face. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Good!"

"Mrs. King! I can't wait to start calling you Mrs. Stetson!"

"And neither can I!"


	10. Chapter 10

Loves Journey: Chapter 10

 **Milo's Daffy Dogs**

 **Sunday Afternoon: The Weekend Before Lee and Amanda's Wedding**

Amanda and Dotty went shopping, picked up some items for Amanda's upcoming wedding and reception. As they finished up with their errands, they were suddenly hungry, so they stopped for a bite to eat. "How do you know about this place?" Dotty asked Amanda as they sat down outside of the hot dog stand.

"Oh, I've been here with Lee," Amanda answered.

"You two come here regularly do you?" Dotty asked as she looked around. "Doesn't look like a place you'd go to Amanda, let alone with Lee."

"Well, sometimes we do come here. It holds fond memories, well some fond memories." _Some bad too!_ Amanda thought to herself. _The first time she came here with Lee was when Amanda began to realize that she wasn't really looking forward to meeting Dean's mother and for that matter, going on to a future with Dean. Amanda shook her head. That was all in the past now; Lee was her future now. That was also the day that she was kidnapped, she had a car wreck trying to get away, hit her head and had amnesia._

"Amanda?"

"Yes? Sorry Mother, were you saying something?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, of course, everything's just fine. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know; you had a distant look."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Are you happy? I mean, does Lee make you happy?"

Amanda thought back to the past several months, and a smile spread across her face. "Yes, Mother, Lee does make me happy."

"Well, I thought so; any blind man can see that, but I was just wondering and I thought that well…" she stopped.

"Well, what?" Amanda ventured.

"You know, that since the situation with Joe, after the whole mess with THAT woman, that perhaps you would get cold feet, with Lee that is."

"THAT woman has a name, her name is Meg Furrows, and yes, I will admit that at first, right after Joe was kidnapped and I found out about her, I was a little unsure of myself." Amanda thought back to that night with Lee and remembered just how in tune with her needs Lee was and how comforting he was. "I'm okay with things now." _Thanks to Lee. She loved how Lee was always trying to reassure her of just how much he did love her; not pushing her sexually, informing her of his past, yet showing her in lots of ways that his past is exactly that—the past. God, did she love him!_

"I'm so glad, Amanda," Dotty commented as she took the last bite of her chili dog. "I hate to admit it, but you were right…"

"Right about what?"

"About the chili dogs being good," Dotty replied as she put the last of the hot dog in her mouth and then using a napkin to wipe the corner of her mouth.

"I told you," Amanda replied.

"Did we get everything we needed?" Dolly asked as they stood to leave.

"No, I think we got everything that I can think of for now. It doesn't matter anyway; we still have next week. Besides, Lee and I are both off Thursday and Friday; so we'll be able to pick up any last minute items we might need."

"That's true," Dotty concurred.

"Then haircuts for the boys Friday, hair appointments for you and me on Saturday, early morning," Amanda rattled off.

"Lee's taking the boys, still?"

"Yes."

"What about Joe?" Dotty inquired. "Still no word as to whether he's coming to the wedding?"

Amanda shook her head, as she unlocked the door to her car. "He hasn't said anything else about it one way or the other, and I'm not going to ask him about it. If he decides that he's coming, he'll have to let me know."

"Serves him right, acting like a wounded child," Dotty said. "Where to now?"

"Home, I think, unless you can think of something I missed," Amanda answered.

"No, except do you have something for your wedding night yet? I imagine you got a sexy negligee already or you could use THE sexy one I already got you."

"Mother!" She'd already used that negligee, one evening that week after work, in fact. But she wasn't about to tell her mother that. "Thanks, Mother, but I already have a gown."

"Okay, but just let me know if you want me to go shopping with you for another one, you'll need one for your honeymoon and for when you two go away."

"Yes, Mother."

Amanda was several blocks from Milo's, headed away from the restaurant when another car came flying around the corner; ran into Amanda's lane, causing Amanda to swerve to the right until the car had gone by.

"Are you alright?" Amanda asked.

"I am. Are you hurt?" Dotty asked.

"No, I'm fine."

The car continued several feet; Amanda right on its tail.

"Amanda, what are you doing?"

"Getting the license plate."

The car suddenly stopped; the rear passenger door flew open, one body, then another came flying out, and they both hit the ground with a resounding thud. The door reclosed quickly, and the car sped away with its tires screeching against the road.

"Oh my gosh!" Amanda and Dotty screamed at the same time.

"Mother, I'm going to stop and pull over," Amanda said as she swirled to the left avoiding the two bodies. "You get out of the car and wait here, find a pay phone if you can. Then I'll get back in and follow…"

"Amanda Jean King, I will do no such thing!"

"But, Mother!"

"You just keep driving," Dotty retorted.

"I don't want to see you hurt; we don't know who is in that car or what they are going to do next." Amanda answered back.

"Look at it this way, Amanda, if you stop, you run a greater chance of losing the person. Maybe I can do something to help."

Amanda let out a sigh of frustration. _Where had she heard those words from before?_ If the situation weren't so dangerous, she'd laugh, but as things stood, her mother was right.

"Okay," Amanda glanced around in the car momentarily. "Look in the back seat, do you see Lee's portable car phone?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I need you to call the police. Tell them the location of those two…two corpses and then tell them that we are following the car in question."

Dotty's eyes became wide, but she reached in the back like Amanda said and grabbed the phone and proceeded to make the call.

Amanda pulled back to allow a few cars in front of her—but from the way the car was moving, his least concern seemed to be whether or not someone was behind him, following him or not. The car proceeded onward at the same quick speed. "Surely, the person will stop at this light…" Dotty lamented, her words cut off in midstream as she watched the car proceed to move onward with the same speedy force, barreling right through the light; causing the cars in traffic to stop to a screeching halt.

"Mother, hold on tight!"

"Amanda!"

Amanda floored the gas and sped through the intersection right behind the moving vehicle in front of her. After a few blocks, the car suddenly stopped in front of a two flat brick building. Amanda slowed her car and pulled over to the curb, just across the intersection to wait and watch. She didn't have to wait long. A tall, wiry-looking man stepped out and moved quickly to the back passenger side. His body wavered to the side, Amanda couldn't tell for sure, but sweat appeared to be streaking down his forehead.

The man's right hand went to the door handle as he glanced around for a second before opening the door and snatching a young woman, around seventeen, out of the back seat grabbing her by both her hands with one of his hands, while the other hand pointed something in the young woman's back.

"Oh!" Amanda and Dotty simultaneously moaned as they looked at one another.

"Mother, you wait here!" Amanda said as she got out of her car, her badge in one hand.

"Amanda!"


	11. Chapter 11

Loves Journey: Chapter 11

 **Brick Two Flat Brick Building, Somewhere in Washington, DC**

"Okay! Okay!" Dotty muttered, wrenching her hands in frustration as she watched Amanda get out of her car.

"Sir!" Amanda called out as she started toward the man. "I want to help you," Amanda said as she slowly moved down the sidewalk, placing her badge in her pocket.

"Help me! He killed his wife and my brother," the young woman cried out.

"Stop or I will kill her," the wiry man said to Amanda.

"I just want to help," Amanda said quietly, moving closer.

"Why would you want to help me?"

"Because I like to help people and I think I can assist you," Amanda's voice answered soothingly.

"I'm serious," Came the shaky reply. "I—"

Amanda reached in her pocket and grabbed her badge, pulled it out and waved her identification quickly. "I'm with the hospital staff. We want to get you some help."

When the man paused, Amanda inched just a little closer. "What's your name?"

"His name is Wilson," the young woman began.

The man yanked her hands, "Stop that! I can speak for myself! My name is Andrew Wilson. Damn women!"

"So, Mr. Wilson, what seems to be the problem?"

"I found out my wife Caroline was cheating, when she's supposed to be at work teaching, tutoring, this-this…" Mr. Wilson stuttered, his hand pointed towards the young woman. "Her name's Kathy, her brother; JOHN was the one Caroline was really tutoring!"

"They weren't seeing each other; I told you that. Mrs. Wilson tried to tell you too before you killed—"

"I said shut up!" Mr. Wilson hissed. "Or I will…"

"I don't think you want to do that," Amanda said very quietly and calmly.

"Yes, I do. What do I have to lose now?"

"I think if we can get to the heart of things, you'll see that you don't want to do that," Amanda continued just as calmly.

"Never had any time for me, but she made plenty of time for those damn high school students. Always with some student or another," Mr. Wilson rambled. "Then extra meetings; even on the weekends; followed her I did, that's how I found out." Amanda watched intently, waiting patiently for an opportunity to get the gun from his hands.

"I worked hard, you know, to buy her things; but it was never enough."

"Yeah, what kind of work do you do?" Amanda asked.

"I'm a truck driver. She thought that was okay til, til lately," Wilson's hand began to tremble for a moment before he regained his grip once again.

"Yeah, that must've been hard…" Amanda said, but stopped as the two police cars approached the scene. Amanda swiftly jumped to the middle of the street, turned her body sideways and held up her badge. Both cars stopped. One car remained still in the middle of the street with the officers inside; while a dark-haired man, with chocolate-colored skin and a short, petite woman with red hair got out of the other car.

"Are you the woman that called?" The black officer asked quietly.

"My mother phoned," Amanda said glancing towards her car where, thankfully, Dotty was still seated inside. "He appears to have a gun. He threw two bodies out of the car several minutes ago."

"Yes, we found them. Unfortunately, both people, a woman and a man, are dead."

"You two stop, or I'll shoot her," Wilson shouted clutching Kathy's hands even tighter. "I'll talk to her, she's from the hospital, but that's it," Wilson yelled, pointing to Amanda.

"Yes, I'm from the hospital," Amanda said very slowly, wooden-like, moving her head up and down. "Look, I only need a few minutes," Amanda said as she looked to each officer and then back at Mr. Wilson.

"I have to check with my superior officer," the young officer replied.

Amanda shook her head back and forth. "No, we don't have that kind of time," Amanda whispered.

The two officers glanced at one another and then silently nodded in agreement. "But one of us will need to call this in, this latest update."

The young officer held her hand up to the other car and then headed back to the car to make the call.

"I'm right here, stay clear, in case it's necessary," the African American officer said.

"You won't need to," Amanda assured him as she turned back to Mr. Wilson. "So, Mr. Wilson, you really don't want to harm her, do you?"

"I'm just so so…" Wilson said, raking his hands through his hair," tired."

Amanda moved in closer; she was standing directly in front of the two now.

"I loved her so much, but she didn't love me."

Amanda reached her hand out and touched the gun.

"She wasn't cheating; John only came to pick me up. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"I said, shut up," Wilson said, but with less enthusiasm and venom. "That's what you kept saying when I made it to your place. You must think I'm stupid. She thought I was stupid, just a dumb truck driver."

"I'm sure Kathy's right and John was just there to pick her up. And how could your wife or anyone think you were stupid?"

His eyes seemed to light up to this new thought. "I never used to think Caroline thought I was stupid…" His eyes glazed over for a second as a thought formed in his brain. "Do you think she thought I was smart?"

"Maybe," Amanda replied.

"And maybe she still loved me even?"

"Perhaps," Amanda answered all the while watching Wilson's hands.

Wilson's right hand lowered, falling all the way down from Kathy's back dropping to his side while his other hand loosened its hold on Kathy's hands. Amanda kicked the gun away, grabbed Kathy's hands and pulled back. Wilson fell to the ground to his knees and began to sob.

Amanda pulled Kathy along with her as the police swarmed towards Wilson, while even more officers came from the other side.

"Were they cheating?" Amanda asked as they neared her car where her mother had stepped out.

"Yes! But I thought if I didn't tell him the truth, he wouldn't kill me, that I had better odds of staying alive if only a little while longer."

Amanda nodded her head.

"Amanda Jean King! You scared me half to death." Dotty beamed as she pulled Amanda into her arms. "How in the world did you do that?"

"I don't know Mother; I just wanted to keep him talking, until I could get the gun from his hands."

"Well, Mrs. King, you did an awesome job!" The male officer from earlier said as he stepped up.

"Thank you, but I didn't do much; I Just kept him talking."

"No, you are wrong, you saved my life," Kathy said, touching Amanda's arm. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome."

"I'm going to need your statements," The officer said, directing his words to all of them.

"Of course!" Amanda replied. "Are you alright?" Amanda asked Kathy.

"John was all I had left. Our parents died a few years ago. John was an engineer; he was ten years older than me. He was smart and took good care of me, but he also had this wild streak, always looking to do something just a little outside the box. I guess meeting and dating Mrs. Wilson, was the kind of excitement he was looking for. But it cost him his life."

"I—" Amanda started.

"I'm sorry, but Miss can you come with us?" The officer was saying to Kathy.

"Of course."

"Can you two drive to the station or do you need an officer to take you?"

"We can meet you there," Amanda answered.

"Amanda, are you sure? Do you want me to drive?" Dotty asked.

"No, I'm fine."

"Okay."

 **Amanda and Dotty Back in Amanda's Car**

"I am so proud of you, I'm nearly speechless!" Dotty said to Amanda as Amanda started the car and pulled off.

"Thank you Mother," Amanda said quietly.

"Besides the obvious, what's the matter?"

"That poor young girl, now she is alone, because of a bad choice her guardian made."

"Yeah, that is sad," Dotty agreed.

"Maybe the agency can help," Amanda pondered.

"That would be nice, Dear, if they could help her."

 _I'll talk to Mr. Melrose about it._ Amanda thought as she continued towards the police station.


	12. Chapter 12

Loves Journey: Chapter 12

 **Lee's Apartment**

Lee stretched his legs out in front of him on top of his coffee table, switched the television on and laid his head against the couch cushions. He had popcorn in one hand and the remote in the other. _Good thing Amanda wasn't there. She'd have a fit if she knew what he was having for dinner. It was half her fault anyway; he was too tired from their Friday night and Saturday time together to have much else. He thought, a smile spreading wide across his face. He'd left her house late that morning, came home and went back to bed. Amanda and her mom were going to run some errands once she got home from her weekend away. They were probably back by now. He half expected Amanda to call before the evening was over, but so far, no call._

Lee was halfway through his bowl of popcorn and in the middle of a western movie when a headline broke across the screen; **Breaking News! Two dead bodies and a kidnapping.** _What the hell?_ Lee thought to himself. _Sounds like me and Amanda's everyday lives._ Lee thought as he watched the camera pan the streets that were just a few blocks from Daffy Dogs'. _Daffy Dogs! Oh, how interesting. Amanda and I go there from time to time; one of our favorite places and has fond sad and some fond memories._ Lee reminisced as he placed a few more kernels of corn in his mouth.

"A woman in her early thirties," The newscaster began, "and her mother were running errands for her upcoming wedding and had just left Milo's Daffy Dogs when their car was almost sideswiped. In the process of chasing the car down to obtain a license plate number, they saw two bodies being pushed out of the car. The most incredible part to this story is that not only did the two women stay in hot pursuit of the car, they saw a hostage situation and the younger woman assisted the police in getting the hostage, a young girl in her late teens, away from her captor."

 _Daffy Dogs? Two women picking up items for a wedding? Oh hell!_ Lee began coughing and gagging on the handful of popcorn he'd placed in his mouth. He quickly spit out the last few bites and grabbed for the glass of water that was on the table. He coughed a few more times; then settled back down to hear the rest of the story. "The two wish to remain anonymous, but we've since found out that the woman is an off-duty federal agent." Lee's program came back on; Lee sat straight up, his mind whirling around as he tried to process the information from the news. He reached for the phone. The phone vibrated in his hands as it began ringing just as he picked up the receiver.

"Hello!" Lee belted.

"Lee, did you see the news?" Francine questioned.

"Yes, I saw the news!"

"It's Amanda, you know!"

"Yes, it has to be Amanda!"

"No, it is Amanda for sure; I just called the police headquarters in the district where everything happened. Amanda and her mother are there for questioning, just to get all the facts as they know it."

"Leave it to Amanda to just happen to see a kidnapping! Have you spoken to Billy yet?"

"No, it is Sunday evening; he's probably busy with Jeanie and the family and hasn't seen the news. I just thought I'd phone you first."

"Thanks. Yeah, I just saw it on the news. I'll call the station then go down there. Can you give me the number?"

"Sure."

Lee slowly shook his head as he wrote down the digits Francine rattled off. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Call Billy?"

"Yeah, sure!"

"I've already spoken to them about how they reported the story. I could have the station retract the part about Amanda being an agent, but that might do more damage."

"Yeah!" Lee paused. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Anytime. Lee, please call me and let me know how Amanda and her mother are doing."

Lee put on his shoes and then dialed the number Francine gave him.

After a short wait, Amanda was put on the phone.

"Amanda?"

"Hi, Lee!"

"What happened? Are you alright? What about your Mother?"

"Too much to go into details now, over the phone. We are both fine just a little tired. "Look I'm almost done here, I'll call you…"

"No, you are to wait there, and I'll come and swing by and get the two of you."

"We're almost done. I can call you from the car phone and let you know when we're on our way home. You can stop by then if…"

"Amanda!"

"Lee, it doesn't make sense to come and get us."

"I'll meet you at your house; I'm leaving now."

"Okay, see you in a few," Amanda said and hung up the phone.

 _Whatever am I going to do with this woman?_ Lee thought as he put his shoes on, grabbed his keys and left his apartment, shaking his head and smiling at the same time.


	13. Chapter 13

Loves Journey: Chapter 13

 **Amanda's House**

No one was at home of course when Lee arrived at the house; the boys were still with their father, and of course, Amanda and Dotty were together and had yet to arrive home. Lee sat down in the living room and prepared to wait. About half an hour later, he was still there, waiting, a book from their bookshelf on photography across his lap.

He had to admit that he was terrified when he heard what Amanda did that day, but he was also very proud of her too. Hell, an agent in training or not, Amanda was damn good. From the very start even when all she was using was her incredibly heightened instincts; she was able to get out of a situation better than some of the more highly trained agents.

Hearing the key in the front lock, Lee jumped up and practically sprinted to the door and snatched it open. He immediately pulled Amanda into his arms, and smashed his body against whatever items she held in her arms; and then kissed her squarely on the lips. "Lee!" Amanda murmured moving back. "I can't breathe."

"I'm sorry," Lee replied walking away from the door, reluctantly letting go of Amanda. "It's just that I was so worried."

"Hi to you too, Lee," Dotty said, as she closed the door.

"Hi Dotty," Lee returned.

"Let us get settled and then…" Amanda said frantically holding onto the packages she was carrying.

"Oh, let me help with those. I hope I didn't crush or break anything," Lee lamented taking the parcels from Amanda's arms.

"No, nothing's breakable, thank God."

Lee sat everything on the counter and then asked if either of them wanted something to drink. "Just water, please," Amanda answered.

"Same for me, too," Dotty said.

Once they'd taken a breath and drank their water, Amanda started off with the story of what happened that day. Dotty chimed in a comment here or there, but mostly Amanda recanted the events. About three quarter's way into the conversation, the phone rang.

"I got it!" Lee said and reached for the phone. "Hello?" Lee paused then said, "Yes, she's here. Amanda, it's Joe, and he wants to speak to you. Are you up to talking to him?"

Amanda shook her head back and forth.

"Amanda isn't up to talking right now. No, she's fine. Oh, yeah, yeah, I heard the news report about the federal agent. A mother and daughter, out wedding shopping…" Lee continued to listen to Joe, his eyes continuously upon Amanda. "If you didn't know…" Lee paused as Joe continued to ask questions. "Yes," Lee said slowly, "it was Amanda and Dotty."

"Can you ask him what time the boys will be home?" Amanda questioned.

"You'll have to talk to Amanda about that, but I think she'll want to tell the boys herself the rest of the details. Amanda wants to know what time you will have the boys back. Well, okay," Lee said and hung up.

Amanda looked towards Lee and raised an eyebrow. "He wanted to know more about what happened. And he seemed a little upset that you wouldn't talk to him right now."

"Oh well!" Dotty said. "If neither of you needs me, I'm going upstairs and relax. Amanda, I'll leave it up to you to tell Lee the rest. And Lee, Amanda was really something," Dotty called over her shoulder. "Try not to be too angry with her."

"I know, Amanda really is something," Lee said softly, embracing Amanda in his arms settling them comfortably on the sofa.

"Hmm!" Amanda sighed allowing herself the comfort of being in Lee's arms.

"So, what else happened?"

"There really isn't much more to tell; basically, in the end, I talked the man down, got him calmed down, and then he let go of the gun," Amanda explained about how the police took over then.

"Well, Amanda, you had me worried half to death."

"I know, I know, but Lee, it wasn't anything different than what you would've done and don't start telling me what I should or shouldn't do, still being in training. The woman needed help. It's as simple as that."

Lee opened his mouth then reclosed it. _What could he say? She was right. How could he argue with her when she was doing what she had the instincts and the passion for doing, and that was to help others?_ Instead of commenting on what she said, Lee said instead, "I love you!"

"I love you too!" Amanda answered Lee, snuggling in more firmly into his embrace.

The two of them remained that way while they listened to one another's heartbeat. They occasionally talked about little to nothing, content with being together until Joe returned with the boys.

The couch is where Amanda and Lee were seated when the boys arrived home with Joe.

The boys immediately ran into Amanda's outstretched arms.

"Mom!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

"Hi Lee," Jamie said.

"Hi Lee," Philip said as well.

"Hey boys!" Lee returned. "Joe."

"Lee," Joe returned then turned to Amanda and snarled out, "What the hell happened?"

"Hi, Joe," Amanda sighed out and said.

"That was you on the news, right?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, how did you hear?" Amanda asked.

"Dad let us watch television while we played cards and that's when the news broke in with your story..."

"Oh, I thought you guys were supposed to go to the movies or did you go yesterday?"

"Amanda, I was going to take them but…"

"Dad had some last-minute work he needed to finish up," Philip chimed in.

"Yeah, he thought he'd finish, but then it got to be late."

"Oh, I see!" Amanda's neck muscles immediately tensed up.

Lee stepped over behind Amanda and rubbed her shoulders.

"Joe, we can talk about this later. I want to spend time with the boys right now before I go up to bed," Amanda said as she stood up.

"But Amanda, I want to hear about what happened," Joe pushed.

"You can discuss that when you talk about what happened with the boys this weekend," Lee said, taking Amanda's hand and helping her up. "You guys go on up, I'll let Joe out."

"I'll let myself out," Joe growled and headed towards the door but stopped and said to Philip and Jamie, "Goodnight. I'll make this weekend up to you, I promise."

The boys said goodbye and started up the stairs with Amanda.

"Yeah, right!" Lee mumbled under his breath.

"Lee, did you say something?" Amanda inquired.

"Uh, I just said, I'm going to check all the doors before I head up. Or I can wait a little while so you can be alone with the boys."

Amanda glanced at the boys then said, "You can come too!"

"Okay!" Lee beamed.

Amanda and Lee sat in Philip's and Jamie's room for a while. Not wanting to scare the boys too much, Amanda gave them the short version of what happened. They were pretty excited about what Amanda had done, well, after they were assured that she was indeed okay and that she'd known what she was doing.

"Mom, that's so cool!" Philip exclaimed.

"Were, you afraid?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, very."

"Guys, you do know that you can't tell anyone that it was your mother that saved that woman?" Lee remarked after the boys asked several rounds of questions.

"Oh!" Philip exclaimed.

"Why?" Jamie asked.

"Because it would just be better, better for all of us; we don't want anyone poking around trying to see if your mother is an agent."

"Yeah, Lee is right, besides don't you know that it's better to be anonymous when you do a good deed?"

The boys raised their eyebrows. Even Lee looked surprised.

"Yeah, it makes it more special," Amanda said with a smile.

"I guess that makes sense," Jamie said.

"Okay boys, how about you get ready for bed?" Amanda said. "Lee and I will come back in and say goodnight."

"Okay, Mom!" Philip said.

"Mom, we're happy you're okay, and we are very proud of you!" Jamie said with pride and awe.

"Ah!" Amanda beamed with a smile.

"I'm pretty proud of your mother too!" Lee answered back.

Lee took Amanda's hand and walked with her into her room.

"Amanda?"

"Yes?" She inquired as she flopped down on her bed.

"Here, let me help you." Lee reached down and took Amanda's shoes off. "I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Lee knocked on the boy's bedroom door. "Can I come in for a moment?"

"Sure!" Philip said right away.

"You know your mother, and I will be getting married next weekend…"

"Yeah!" Jamie said.

"And I don't like to stay over here a lot at night right now, well…" Lee ran his hands through his hair. "Because I want you to know the importance of respecting women."

"We know the importance," Philip said. "But Lee what is it?" Philip asked.

"Just say it," Jamie replied.

"I'd like to stay over tonight if that's okay."

"Lee, it's okay with us. As far as we're concerned, you can move in right now," Philip said.

"Yeah!" Jamie agreed.

"No, that's not necessary, next weekend will be soon enough, but thanks."

Philip and Lee looked at one another, shrugged and burst out laughing. "Grown-ups!"

Lee paused at the sound of the laughter coming from the boys' room. Lee shrugged his shoulders; then walked towards Dotty's room and knocked.

"Doty, it's me, Lee," Lee said.

"Oh, Lee just a moment," Dotty called back through her closed door.

"No, no need to open your door. I just wanted to let you know that I'm staying over tonight."

"That's fine, Lee," Dotty chuckled.

"Okay, goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Lee!"

Lee then headed back to Amanda's room.

"What was that all about?" Amanda asked as Lee re-entered her room.

"I just wanted to ask the boys something and tell your mother something."

"I'm so tired; I'm not even going to push you about what," Amanda yawned.

Her legs were stretched out in front of her; her blouse was half opened, her eyelids closed.

"Okay, what did you say to the boys?"

"Thought you were too tired?"

"Lee," Amanda said quietly.

"I just asked them if I could stay the night."

"Oh! That isn't necessary," Amanda said with a yawn. "But-"

"And also, to let your mother know as well," Lee reached out and finished unbuttoning Amanda's shirt, pulled her blouse out of her pants, but then stopped.

"Sorry pal, too tired."

"Aww shucks! Where do you keep your gowns?" Lee questioned with a laugh as he walked to Amanda's dresser drawer. "Here!" He said as he grabbed one from the top drawer.

"Sit up. Come on Amanda; I want to get you undressed and comfortable so you can get some rest. Billy said for you not to come in tomorrow."

"What?"

"Or at the very least, go in late."

"Hmm hmm!"

Lee managed to help Amanda get undressed and dressed in her blue gown. "I'll go say goodnight to the boys for you; then I'll be right back."

When Lee returned, Amanda was sound asleep. Lee kissed her on the forehead; undressed, found one of his t-shirts in Amanda's dresser drawer and after putting it on, laid down next to Amanda. Lee pulled Amanda closer, tight against his body; his senses very aware, taking in every bit of Amanda and who she was; the scent of her hair, the feel of her against his body and being in his arms. It had taken him a long time before he'd become aware of just how attractive a woman Amanda was. And now he was in tune with her in every way and he was happy to call her his woman and soon his wife. "Goodnight Amanda, I love you."


	14. Chapter 14

Loves Journey: Chapter 14

 **Coffee Shop**

Joe walked into the restaurant; his head slumped down; a frown on his face. Karyn noticed him the moment he walked in. He looked vaguely familiar; maybe he was in here before, she thought to herself.

He certainly had the day from hell. First, he'd gotten an earful from Amanda about how little time he was spending with the boys, even though he'd been taking them pretty often the last few weeks.

 _Flashback:_

" _Joe," she'd begun, "if all you're going to do is let them watch television or play games, they can stay home for that. The point of you getting the boys, or so I thought, was for you to actually do something with them."_

" _Amanda, sometimes stuff comes up with my job, and I'm not able to spend all the time I'd allocated for them. And other times, it takes me longer than I expected to finish up something. You should understand; doesn't stuff come up with your job?"_

" _Joseph King," Amanda cut him off, "don't you even try to go there. Yes, IFF does keep me away, sometimes more often than I'd like to be, but I'm still with Jamie and Philip a lot more than you are. And when I am with them, I'm with them, not working."_

" _I—" Amanda cut Joe off and continued with what she had to say._

" _So, unless you are going to commit to actually spending time with them this weekend and later when we go away for our honeymoon, I'll just ask Mother to keep them."_

" _Don't I have some say in this?"_

" _Yes, you do; it all depends on what you plan on doing."_

" _What if something comes up with work?"_

" _Joe, I get that, sometimes those things do happen, but you need to put the boys first, as much as you can and not take on extra work unless you have to."_

" _Well, I," Joe stuttered, not knowing what to say._

 _End of Flashback_

After that, he attempted to ask about the incident with the kidnapping and two murders, but she gave only a minimal account, most of what he'd already heard on the news. Amanda then said she had to go and finish up getting some last minute things done at work; she only had a few more days in the office; then she was off for two days before her and Lee's ceremony.

That was just before he left for lunch. His ears felt as though they were still ringing. Karyn walked over and asked, "Sir, what can I get you? My shift is about to end, but I can take your order before I go."

"Oh, let me see, just a coffee, with cream and sugar and a ham sandwich on rye, please."

"Would you like some water?"

"Sure."

Karyn returned a few minutes later; her apron now discarded. "Your order will be out in a few minutes. I hope you have a good day."

"Thank you, same to you," Joe replied, his eyes glancing down at the waitress' slightly rounded belly.

Karyn clocked out, then headed towards the exit. She waited by the door and watched until Joe's order came out and was placed in front of her last customer. She was just about to step outside when she noticed how sad his expression continued to be. Karyn glanced at her watch. She had a few minutes before her ride would be there. Karyn stepped back over to the table and asked, "I'm waiting for a ride; would you like some company for a few minutes?"

Joe thought about it for a second.

"I need to get off my feet, anyway," Karyn added.

"Sure," Joe replied hesitantly.

"Good," Karyn returned, sitting down quickly and sticking her hand out towards Joe. "By the way, my name is Karyn White. What's your name?"

"Joseph King, but everyone just calls me Joe," Joe answered, holding his hand out to shake Karyn's hand.

"Nice to meet you!" Karyn said.

"Nice to meet you too," Joe remarked not sure what to say.

"You seemed so sad, I couldn't help but sit down and try and cheer you up."

Joe glanced at the young woman. She couldn't be more than about twenty, twenty-one. "Oh, I'm not sad," Joe began.

"Well, you sure don't look happy."

"Well, I…" Joe trailed off.

"It's okay; I know I'm a stranger. Look, I'll start, and if you decide you want to tell me something of interest, go ahead, if not, that's okay too."

"Yeah, sure," Joe began, but before he could finish his statement, Karyn was off and running; talking so fast, Joe could hardly even get a word in edgewise. But for some reason, this didn't bother Joe. Occasionally, she paused; and he'd say a few words and then she'd start up again.

Karyn paused momentarily in the conversation when Joe's food arrived, but then started right back talking.

"Do you want something?" Joe offered.

"No, you forget I work in this place," Karyn said with a smile. Joe raised an eyebrow. "I'm kidding, but no seriously I'm fine."

She talked about how the father of her baby was no longer in the picture, how she much she loved her job there at the coffee shop; but she was only working there part-time. She was actually an intern at a law firm. And she even managed to make him laugh a few times; telling stories about her internship.

"There was this one document that I thought I'd shredded that wasn't supposed to be."

"What did you do?"

"I tried to put it back together of course."

"You're joking?"

"Well, it wasn't completely torn up yet, just part way. Anyway, once I had most of it back together; I realized that it was the wrong document and that I hadn't put the document in the shredder, to begin with."

Despite himself, Joe laughed.

Joe managed to tell her that he was divorced and had two sons and that he worked at a law firm.

"So, why so sad Joe?"

"Oh has to do with some personal stuff."

"The ex-wife, I get it."

"Well," Joe began but was cut off by the sound of a horn from outside.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Oh, that's my ride now. No place to park around here."

Karyn stood up and started towards the door, but then turned back, "Well, at least I was able to get you to laugh, at least a little."

"You did," Joe replied. "Thank you!"

"Maybe, I'll see you again."

"Maybe."

 _Well, that was an interesting conversation. And the woman was a very chatty young woman._ Joe thought to himself as he watched the waitress leave the restaurant. _I wonder who was picking her up. She never did say who it was._

Joe finished off his food and coffee and stood to leave to go back to work. It might be interesting chatting with Karyn again sometime. At least it wouldn't be a dull conversation.


	15. Chapter 15

Loves Journey: Chapter 15

 **Lee's Apartment**

"Amanda, what's the matter?" Lee asked as he sat next to Amanda in the living room, noticing the scowl upon her face.

"Oh, I just realized something," Amanda said.

"What's that?"

"Even though I sent my Aunt Edna and Aunt Lillian both an invitation for the wedding ceremony and the reception; I'm not sure I included them in the count for the wedding."

"And?" Lee questioned further.

"I don't know if there'll be enough room for them to fit in Mr. Tagsworth's office."

"Well, let's see, how many people do we have coming to the ceremony, not including your aunts?" Lee reasoned.

Amanda looked down at her lists and counted the names listed; saying each person's name out loud. "Thirteen which includes the wedding party; my aunts make fifteen."

"I think we'll all be able to fit; but if it makes you feel any better, we can call Mr. Tagsworth tomorrow and find out for sure."

"But Lee, the wedding is Saturday; just four days away! What if he says there are too many people?"

"Amanda, don't worry; we'll just tell my uncle he can't come; that eliminates one person already."

"Lee, be serious."

"Amanda, I don't know. We'll figure it out somehow. Unfortunately, it's too late to call now; but I'll phone first thing tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay," Amanda said quietly.

"I promise it'll be okay," Less said as he placed his hand upon Amanda's hand.

"Thanks," Amanda said as she relished in the pure pleasure of Lee touching her hand.

"For what?" Lee asked.

"For being you," Amanda said giving Lee a soft kiss on the lips.

"You're welcome." Lee returned. "But I thought you'd be a little more thankful than that."

"Oh, I am!" Amanda answered, reaching up to put her arms around Lee's neck, pulling him closer as she deepened the kiss.

"Much better," Lee replied as the kiss ended. "But we better get back to this," he said, pointing his finger to the list in front of them.

"Yeah!" Amanda moved back and sat with her back against the arm of the couch, her legs stretched out on top of Lee's legs.

"Is there anything else on the list that you're worried about?" Lee asked.

"Just the boys; are you still able to take the boys Friday for their haircuts?"

"Yes!"

"I could ask Joe to do it," Amanda said.

"No, it's okay, I can do it," Lee said right away. "Speaking of Joe, you never did tell me how the conversation with him went today."

"Oh, you know," Amanda said with a sigh. "The same old stuff about his job and how sometimes he can't spend all the time he'd intended with the boys because of work and that, oh, you know…" Amanda threw her hands up in the air with another sigh. "Then other times things related to work take longer than expected and that messes up his time with the boys."

"Blah! Blah! Blah!" Lee commented.

"I told him that he needed to get himself together about not disappointing them or he would not be watching them while we're away on our honeymoon."

"That's good," Lee said then stopped. "I mean it's good that you finally talked to him."

"Last thing before we call it a night," Amanda said, "are we all set for our honeymoon?"

"Yes, one week on a cruise ship. We are all set, much better idea than going to Jamaica!"

"I agree."

"And, we can go to the same little island, San Angelo, where we went when we got married last time."

"As long as we don't run into anyone smuggling gold," Amanda smirked.

"Smuggling anything," Lee said back with a chuckle. "Besides extra sunscreen, towels, and champagne that is."

Amanda smiled at Lee's comment and stood up. "Well, I better get going. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait, you know I'm going to walk you to your car?"

"Of course, I know," Amanda replied as she stood up. "You do that even when you're angry with me."

"You sure you don't want to stay over? Are all your mother's garden club friends out of the house?"

"I hope that they are, and yes, I'd love to stay over, but I want to spend some time alone with the boys tonight; besides you'll be there the next few evenings then back at your place Friday night."

"I know," Lee responded back. "And then Saturday, we will be husband and wife."

Lee walked Amanda to her car, checked the car before he opened it for her to get in.

"I feel kind of silly telling the boys about treating women a certain way and with staying over Sunday and then again the next two nights; I'll be there a total of three nights."

Amanda laughed. "I think it's kind of cute seeing you this way, so responsible and so bashful about the whole thing."

"Well, I'm glad you find it so funny," Lee reached out and pulled Amanda into his arms and kissed her on the cheek.

"Call me when you get home."

"Yes, Lee, I will."

"I love you!"

"I love you too!" Amanda replied as she got in her car and drove off.

Lee stood back, smiled and watched for a moment as Amanda drove off before he went back into his apartment. As Lee stood there, he lamented about how he couldn't wait for Amanda to become Mrs. Lee Stetson.


	16. Chapter 16

Loves Journey: Chapter 16

 **Amanda's House**

"Amanda, oh you're home!" Dotty exclaimed when she heard Amanda's key in the lock.

"Yes, Mother, where else would I be?" Amanda asked with a laugh as she walked in and placed her briefcase on the counter.

"I just thought…" Dotty started.

"Yeah, I know very well what you thought," Amanda replied. "I said I'd be home around the time your club ended."

"I know what you said," Dotty laughed. "Anyway, once you get the boys settled, do you want to sit and talk for a bit?"

"Sure," Amanda answered, but then asked as she headed up the stairs. "Anything wrong?"

"No, just thought it would be nice to talk."

"Mother, I'd love that." She was all the way upstairs before she remembered that she promised Lee that she would call him. She poked her head into the boy's room. "Hi fellas, I'm home."

"Hey, Mom!" Philip said.

"Hi, Mom!" Jamie replied as well.

"You guys want to play some cards before you go to bed? UNO?"

"On a school night?" Philip questioned.

"Did you get all your school work done?"

"Yes," they both said simultaneously.

"Then we can play. You guys get the cards and meet me in the family room," Amanda headed towards the door. I have to call Lee, let him know I made it home."

"Okay!" Philip exclaimed.

After Amanda phoned Lee, she met the boys in the family room. Dotty even joined them, and they played several rounds of UNO before they both were so tired, that they were beginning to yawn.

"Okay Fellas, time for bed. I think I've let you stay up long enough," Amanda said to Jamie and Philip as she started putting the cards away.

"One," Jamie said and yawned, "more game?"

"No way. You can barely even keep your eyes open, and you yawned about three times trying to get that question out."

"You can't blame them for trying, can you, Dear?" Dotty questioned. "You certainly did do your best to try and get out of going to bed."

"Mother!"

"Well, you did!" Dotty exclaimed back.

"You aren't helping matters," Amanda said sternly then laughed.

"Oh, sorry," Dotty answered, holding her hands up. "Okay boys, time for bed."

"Aw!" Wailed Philip but started cleaning up the cards, putting them back in the box. Jamie joined in and helped.

"Tell you what, you two can sit reading a few extra minutes, okay?" Amanda suggested.

"Sure," was replied in unison.

"Go get washed up and ready for bed and I'll come in and say goodnight," replied Amanda.

After finishing up putting the cards away, Philip and Jamie kissed Dotty goodnight then went upstairs as instructed.

Dotty turned to Amanda. "You still want to sit and talk after you say goodnight to the boys?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll get us something to drink and a snack and have it ready for when you come back down."

Amanda nodded in agreement and headed upstairs to help make sure the boys were doing what they were asked to do. She then went to her room, changed clothes and laid down for a few minutes while she gave them extra time to read. After twenty minutes, Amanda both said goodnight to the boys; then headed downstairs to the family room where Dotty had snacks already set up and prepared for the two of them.

"Well, just a few more days Amanda," Dotty said as she and Amanda sat down, "And you will be Mrs. Lee Stetson."

"Yes."

"How do you feel about getting married again?"

"I don't know; I feel fine; funny Francine asked the same question."

"Nervous?"

"No, not really, well maybe."

"What are you nervous about?"

"Nothing in particular, but if I had to pick something, it would be just the fact that my marriage to Joe failed, but I think I've mostly gotten over that."

"That's good."

Amanda and Dotty sat and talked for about an hour discussing last minute details about the wedding and the reception and then Joe's name came up in the conversation.

"So, what is the plan with Joe and the boys again?"

"Mother, you know very well what the plan is, that they will go with their father Saturday after the wedding and then he will have them through the weekend."

"Are you sure Joe will get the boys to school as promised?"

"I think he will get them to school."

"On time?" Dotty pushed further.

"Yes."

"Okay, if you say so!" Dotty commented, throwing her hands up.

"It's his idea, said he wanted to make up for the other night."

"Hmm hmm!"

There was a momentary silence before Amanda asked, "So have you decided who you're bringing with you to the reception?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you already?"

"I know you were trying to narrow it down to a few choice people, but I didn't know that you had decided."

"I'm bringing Mr. Hinkerman."

"Who?" Amanda questioned.

"You've met him before. We've gone out for lunch a few times."

"Oh, is he the tall one, nice build, black hair?"

"Yes, he is a widower. He has a son and four grandchildren. He still works."

"Oh, that's nice. Mr. Hinkerman seems like a nice man."

"Yeah, I've seen his son before."

Amanda stretched her arms out in front of her and yawned.

"I can see you're tired Dear, why don't you go on up and go to bed."

"No, Mother, I'm fine."

"Amanda!"

"Look, we won't have too many more of these nights, alone. There will be another man in the house."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I didn't live with you and Joe when you were married, so this should be interesting."

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked.

"Well, Lee never knew his parents; he was raised by his uncle, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. So?"

"Well, I just wonder how we're all going to blend in."

"Are you worried that Lee won't fit in?"

"No, no not at all!" Dotty said and touched Amanda's arm. "I guess what I'm wondering is do you really want me to stay. I thought that it might be better if I got my own place. I have lived on my own before, you know."

"Mother! Look, we all know that you are capable of being on your own. And of course, if that is what you want, we will support your decision. But, Lee, myself, and the boys would love to have you stay with us."

"Only if you're sure that I won't be in the way."

"You won't be in the way. I know after we decided to get married that Lee and I sprung this whole thing on you rather quickly. We didn't give you or us enough time to look for a new place, but as soon as we come back from our cruise, I promise you, we will look into finding a bigger place. Okay?"

"That would make me feel better like I wasn't in your and Lee's way or anything; so you can have your own alone time."

Amanda smiled.

"And speaking of that, do you think you and Lee will have other children?"

Amanda shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, we've talked about it, but haven't decided anything yet."

"Amanda, I think that's a great decision," Dotty said.

Amanda smiled and shook her head back and forth.

"It gives you and Lee…" Dotty paused, "a chance to get to know one another as a family."

"That's kind of what I think too. Lee and I probably need to talk a little more about it, how having another child will impact all of us."

"Yeah, not to mention your careers; well your career especially," Dotty said.

"True."

They were both silent for a moment and just when it looked as though there wasn't anything else to say; Dotty mentioned the aunts; Edna and Lillian.

"The two of them discussed what dress each of them was going to wear to the wedding, and they both picked out the same dress; except one had chosen blue and the other pink. I forget who had what, but now both aunts returned their dresses, and neither of them will tell the other one or anyone, including me, what they are going to wear."

Amanda sunk her head into her hands as she suppressed the fits of laughter that threatened to come out and wake Jamie and Philip. Once she felt composed, she looked up at her mother.

"And," Dotty held up her hands.

"There's more?" Amanda groaned.

"Yes, they are expecting us to tell them which one of them wore the prettiest and had the best outfit."

"Us?"

"Yes, us, as in you; me, the boys and Lee."

"Oh my gosh! I guess I'll need to prepare Lee."

"Yes, you should but then again," Dotty offered.

Amanda and Dotty looked at one another and burst out laughing.

"They won't know what hit them when Lee gets through smooth talking them," Dotty said with a laugh.

Amanda smiled at her mother's comment.

They talked for several more minutes before they decided to head up to go to bed.

"It was really nice chatting with you, Dear!"

"I enjoyed it too, Mother!"

Amanda kissed her mother on the cheek then went into the bathroom and got ready for bed.


	17. Chapter 17

Loves Journey: Chapter 17

 **Lee's Apartment**

 _Well, Stetson, this is it!_ Lee thought to himself as he lay in bed, his arms stretched out over his head, reaching up and touching the headboard. _Tomorrow morning, you and Amanda will say your vows in front of your friends and family and then later have the wedding reception._ _Everything was set._ Lee thought to himself. Turns out, there would be enough room in Mr. Tagsworth's office to accommodate Amanda's aunts for the wedding after all.

Of course Amanda knew someone from the PTA that worked at the hotel where he and Amanda would stay until Monday. She'd arranged a day rate for anyone that wanted to come back to the hotel to rest and/or change before the reception. As far as he knew, the aunts, Lillian and Edna, Dotty and the boys, of course, were the only ones going to use the day stay. Against the Princess' wishes; the Princess' and Prince were staying at another hotel. The Prince's security staff felt they could protect them better if they weren't staying in the same place the wedding party was staying.

Amanda's friend also arranged an overnight rate for guests; so far, thankfully, no one was using it. It wouldn't matter anyway, he and Amanda were booked for three nights in the honeymoon suite, and that's where he planned for them to be most, if not all of, their stay there. But without the extra guests staying in the hotel, they were more likely to have the alone time they wanted.

Wednesday at work, although quite busy, went well. He and Amanda managed to finish up their paperwork; anything that was important and needed follow-up, they forwarded to Francine. Everything else was placed in a file cabinet and marked "to do later." With Amanda's efficiency in detail and her punctuality to time, kept them on point, and they were able to leave work on time.

Before leaving, they stopped by Billy's office to check in.

 _Flashback_

 _Lee knocked on Billy's office door then he and Amanda entered._

" _Hey you two, I thought I told you to leave early," Billy bellowed at the sight of his favorite team._

" _Well Sir, we had a lot of stuff we wanted to put in order before we left," Amanda began._

" _It's not like you aren't coming back Tuesday before your 'real honeymoon'!"_

" _I tried to tell her," Lee said sternly but smiled._

" _I know Sir; I just like to have things in order."_

" _And that is one of the many things we love about you, Amanda."_

" _Thank you, Sir!" Amanda replied with a slight blush._

" _Please let me know if there is anything else you need Jeannie or me to do, some last minute detail that only happens during a wedding."_

" _We will," Lee said. "Thank you, Billy."_

" _Goodnight!" Amanda said as they turned to leave._

" _Goodnight you two!"_

 _Billy called out, "And please try to relax a little; don't stress out too much."_

 _They both smiled._

 _Lee held Amanda's hand as they left the building._

 _The ride back to her house had been a mix of silence and light conversation; some talk about last minute details for the wedding and just overall conversation about the boys, etc. They'd decided that he'd stay over Wednesday and Thursday night but return to his apartment Friday night._

 _End of Flashback_

After they got the boys up and took them to school, Amanda and Lee ran some last minute errands. They double checked things like the cake, the flowers, gave last minute counts to the clerk in Marion County and Lee checked to make sure the alterations for his tuxedo were made. Friday, Amanda and her mother spent most of the day together; some of which had to do with Amanda's dress for the wedding and her outfit for the reception. Lee was on stepdad duty already; boys to school; then picked up later and taken to the barber for haircuts. In between dropping and picking the boys; Lee managed to carry a few items from his apartment to the house; other miscellaneous items went in storage; they would worry about his other items when they returned from their cruise.

Now hours later after a pretty busy day; Lee's mind wouldn't shut down. He and some of the guys went out to a strip club but to be honest; he didn't enjoy it all that much. It wasn't that he was opposed to the idea of being at a club; it was just that he wasn't enjoying the sight of the half-clad women; his mind was too heavily occupied by thoughts of Amanda. Lee only had eyes for one woman, and she wasn't in some club, standing on top of a stage. The woman he wanted was at home; his soon to be home. After an hour of turning his head away and pushing women away; Lee turned to Billy who looked at Leatherneck. The three of them got up leaving Beaman and some of the other Agency staff behind and found a nearby bar; had a few more drinks before they called it a night.

Lee enjoyed himself much more at the bar. He was happy Leatherneck could make it this time. Now some hours later; his mind was full of thoughts. He was worried something was going to go wrong to interrupt the wedding, and if it wasn't the wedding; it might be the reception. Lee glanced over at the clock. Was it too late to call Amanda? Should he call her? Besides he did want to check in and see what she thought of the boys' haircuts.

Lee picked up the phone and dialed Amanda's house. When there wasn't an answer, he quickly placed the receiver back on the phone. _Uh oh! Instead of a shower; some of her friends from the PTA and a few other women were taking her to dinner. Hopefully, no one got drunk this time._ Lee thought to himself.

Lee closed his eyes and was just about sleep when his phone rang. He quickly snatched up the receiver. "Hello?" Lee answered groggily.


	18. Chapter 18

Loves Journey: Chapter 18

 **Phone Conversation**

"Hi Lee, I'm sorry I didn't call you. I was in the shower when I heard the phone ring. I haven't been home long, and Mother and the boys are of course in bed already. I would've phoned you sooner, but I wanted to get some of the cake out of my hair."

"Amanda, slow down. Cake? What cake?"

"You see, even though I didn't ask the girls to bring me any gifts; a few of them did anyway, and I told them I'd wait and open them at home; but Carol and Kimberly; you know from the PTA, were determined that I open their gifts." Amanda paused.

"Yeah?" Lee sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"And well, I peeked you see; didn't take the presents out completely, but I could see that it was a negligee."

"Hmm!" That got Lee's attention.

"Well, Kimberly was peeking too, and she could see that Carol's gift was similar to hers. The next thing we know, the two of them are talking about who should take their gift back; then Kimberly stands up and throws her cake at Carol. Things almost got out of hand; I thought we were going to have to leave the restaurant."

"Amanda! Really?"

"Yes, really."

"So, why are you just now getting home? My clock says eleven o'clock."

"Well, you see, Carol and Kimberly drove together and left the restaurant ahead of me and Sarah who I rode with. Well, when we walked out to the parking lot; they apparently got into it again."

"About what for God's sake?"

"The gift still; I guess Carol accused Kimberly of doing this all the time, always trying to outdo her and Carol said she'd had enough. Carol slapped Kimberly, and the police came, and well they were almost arrested."

"What do you mean, almost arrested?" Lee questioned slowly.

"Ugh, goodnight Lee."

"Amanda Jean King, don't make me come over there tonight."

"Well, I pulled the officer aside and convinced him to let them go. It took me a little while to do it, but I finally convinced him not to arrest them and gave them a stern warning that it better not happen again."

"Yeah?"

"It was an officer that well, me, Carol and Kimberly knew; in fact, we all went to high school together. I promised to get his wife the recipe for my brownies if he let them go. I know his wife too; I see her at Philip's school, her son is on the basketball team."

"Amanda, that doesn't sound like you at all. Bribing an officer of the law," Lee said laughing.

"Well, I couldn't let them get arrested, not over something so silly, now could I?"

"They should've thought of that before they started fighting in the parking lot," Lee said trying not to laugh. "I'm glad you made it home safe." Lee shook his head.

"Me too!" Amanda agreed.

"I love you!" Lee said.

"I love you too!"

"Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

Lee hung up the phone, turned his face towards his pillow, closed his eyes and thought about how exciting life with Amanda was going to be, and went to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

Loves Journey: Chapter 19

 **Hotel Room, Washington, DC**

 **Saturday Morning**

"Lee, I'm sorry, but you can't come in here," Dotty said to Lee when he attempted to follow Amanda into their hotel room. The boys had already gone into the adjacent bedroom. Dotty stood in front of the door, her arms outstretched across the door frame.

"Dotty, what are you talking about? Amanda and I are married now," Lee said spiritedly.

"You are, but I want you to be wowed, blown over when you see her at the reception," Dotty returned, trying her best not to laugh.

 _It was bad enough he couldn't stay at the house on Friday; now Dotty wanted to make him wait to see what Amanda was wearing at the reception._ Lee thought to himself. _"And where exactly am I supposed to until the celebration? I planned on resting before it was time for us to go."_

"You can stay in the room with the boys, and I can stay in here."

"Mother, seriously!" Amanda beamed, also trying to keep from laughing.

"Now, I know you have to be joking," Lee said looking at Dotty.

Dotty released the breath she'd been holding and burst out laughing. "Go on in Lee. I was only playing with you."

Amanda turned to Lee. He looked as though he was about to blow a gasket, but then suddenly he burst out laughing as he pulled his new mother-in-law in his arms and kissed her on the cheek.

"That was a kind of induction into the family," Amanda said.

"Oh, you knew?" Lee asked incredulously; one eyebrow lifted. "And you didn't warn me?"

"I didn't know, but I figured that was what she was doing," Amanda answered.

"So, Lee, you aren't angry?" Dotty questioned.

"No," Lee answered.

After a few more comments and laughs over the whole thing; they pulled apart. Lee went to check on the boys while Dotty left to go down the hall and check on the aunts. Amanda took off her cream-colored skirt and jacket/top and placed them on the chair. She then lay down, closed her eyes and thought about her and Lee's wedding ceremony.

 _Flashback_

 _The wedding went off without a hitch; facilitated nicely by Mr. Tagsworth. In attendance was Dotty, Philip and Jamie of course, Emily, Paul, Princess Penny and Prince Rheza Khan, and Harry. And both Aunts were there: Edna and Lillian; Billy was Lee's best man, and Francine was Amanda's Maid of Honor. It was a tight squeeze, but everyone was able to fit into Mr. Tagsworth's office. The boys walked Amanda down the short distance of the hall towards the Justice of the Peace's chamber to give Amanda away._

 _Mr. Tagsworth asked if there was any reason why the two of them couldn't get married. Lee and Amanda looked around at each other and then at everyone who was in the chamber and then lastly at the door. It wasn't until Mr. Tagsworth said, I now pronounce you man and wife and Lee kissed her; that Amanda and Lee felt total relief and happiness._

" _Well, congratulations son! I didn't think you had it in you." The Colonel said slapping Lee on the back._

" _Thanks," Lee returned begrudgingly._

 _Billy, who was nearby, looked at Lee's uncle then turned and walked up and patted Lee on the back as well and shook Lee's hand. "Congratulations! I knew you had it in you, Lee. Well done!"_

" _Thanks!"_

 _Lee said giving his boss and old friend a smile. Billy smiled back._

" _Lee, Sir, esxcuse me a minute," Amanda said and stepped outside behind Lee's uncle._

" _Excuse me, Colonel," Amanda said._

" _Hi Amanda," his face was frowned up. "We're family now; you know you can call me by my first name."_

" _Colonel, I mean…Sir, I well…Robert; I'm just used to Lee calling you Colonel."_

 _He laughed a little at that._

" _Yeah, Lee is so stubborn; I've told him he could call me Uncle or just Robert, but he continues to use Colonel."_

" _Well, I wanted to talk to you about Lee. I think it hurts his feelings when you use words like you did just now with Lee."_

" _What words did I use? I just said I didn't think that" he stopped himself as he realized what he said. "Amanda, you have to remember that I am a Colonel in the Air Force and that I'm used to being strict."_

" _Well, Lee isn't one of your charges; he's your nephew, the only one that you have and you owe it to him, forgive me for saying this, for being so blunt," Amanda stopped._

" _No, Amanda, go right ahead. I like a person that speaks their mind."_

" _Lee deserves respect and compassion. He lost his parents at a very young age, and I know that you raised him the best way that you knew how, but now, he's a man, and he deserves for you to treat him as such." Amanda paused and took a breath. "There's so much more I'd like to say, but I don't want anything to spoil our wedding." Amanda touched the Colonel on the arm and then kissed him on the cheek._

" _Amanda, thank you!" The Colonel said and watched as Amanda walked over to Lee who was just coming out with the others._

" _Amanda," Lee said. "What were you talking to the Colonel about?"_

" _Oh, I, I was just," Amanda began, but the Colonel cut her off._

" _She and I were just saying what a great wedding it was and I was telling her how proud of you I was."_

 _Lee looked at Amanda and raised an eyebrow. "Thank you, Sir. From you, that truly is a great compliment."_

" _No, Lee, thank you."_

 _The Colonel turned and winked at Amanda. She blinked back._

 _After a few more good wishes, everyone filtered out and left to either grab a snack or go back to the hotel for a rest._

 _End of Flashback_

"Amanda," Lee said as he returned to the room to find her face down on the bed.

"Hmm hmm!"

"I know we said that people could come back and sleep if they wanted, but I didn't think that you would."

"Just closing my eyes for a minute."

"Can I join you?" He asked, his eyes taking in Amanda's nearly naked attire.

"Hmm hmm. Sleep Stetson, sleep only!"

Lee opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind instead. He was too worn out for much himself; but if Amanda were even slightly game, there'd be more going on in this room than sleeping. The wedding had taken place at 9:30 and was over at ten. It was now 10:30. They were due at the train at one for the reception.

"I love you, Mrs. Stetson!"

"I love you too, Mr. Stetson! Now Lee," Amanda said, "can you do me a favor?"

"Yes?"

"Go to sleep."

"Yes, Amanda!" Lee smiled; took off his jacket and shirt and lay beside Amanda; a smile upon his face as he took her hand and held it tight; brought it to his lips and kissed her ring hand before he closed his eyes and fell asleep himself.


	20. Chapter 20

Loves Journey: Chapter 20

 **Saturday Afternoon**

 **Joe's Hotel**

 _Okay here goes nothing!_ Joe thought to himself as he left his hotel and asked the doorman to hail him a cab. A cab came quickly, and Joe stepped inside, buckled his seat belt and let his thoughts run free. There wasn't much good to be thankful for that week. Work was very demanding and challenging; with lots of cases, a few of them were backlogged due to the firm being short staffed several weeks before he came on board and from a few people taking vacations. From what he heard; a lot of people take off during spring and summer which makes things even worse; one colleague confided. Then there was the strain in his relationship with his ex-wife, his sons weren't too happy with him. He did promise to spend as much time with them as possible once Amanda and Lee went away for their cruise and he would have them tonight through Tuesday evening. He was finally moving into his new place though; the following weekend so that it didn't interfere with his plans with the boys this weekend. For now, it was an apartment, but that would suffice for him for the near future. He hoped to purchase a condo perhaps in the next year.

He wasn't looking forward to this reception; he'd already bailed on the wedding. The fact that the celebration was on a train wasn't too appealing either; he'd have to stay on until the very end. Well, perhaps he could find someone to talk to while he was there.

Joe's cab was rounding the corner of a six-flat brownstone building when he saw someone that looked vaguely familiar walking back and forth in front of the building. She was wringing her hands fervently in front of her. _Oh, that's the young lady from the coffee shop._

"Sir, can you stop the cab for a moment?"

"Sure," the cab driver replied.

Joe stuck his head out of the window and said, "Hey, Karyn?"

Karyn stopped her pacing and peered towards the cab, "Oh, hi, Joe!"

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, I locked myself out of my apartment, and I can't get in touch with my sister, who happens to be my roommate."

"Oh, when is she expected back?"

"She should be back soon, or did she tell me that she wouldn't be back until later around eight?" Karyn questioned back, running her fingers through her hair.

"What about the manager or owner of the building?"

"They're gone for the weekend."

"Neighbor?"

"Don't trust but one of them and they are out."

"Isn't there a backup person, someone that would have a key?"

"Yes, but," Karyn paused.

"Let me guess; it's your sister?"

"Yep!"

Joe glanced at his watch, "I have a reception, a wedding reception to get to." _He was already cutting it close as it was, but he couldn't just leave her alone could he?_ Joe questioned. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know; I was thinking about that just now when you drove up. I could go back to the restaurant," Karyn said with little conviction.

Joe thought for a moment then said, "Why don't you come with me?"

"I don't know about that," Karyn said. "Won't I be a bother?"

"No bother, actually, you'll be doing me a favor, I was going alone."

"Okay, but whose wedding is it anyway?"

"My ex-wife's!"

"Oh, I see. You sure your ex-wife and her new husband won't mind?"

"You don't know Amanda; I'm sure she won't mind, but let's find a pay phone and call to make sure first? Worst case scenario, I drop you back at the restaurant."

"I just don't know," Karyn began, but stopped mid-sentence when it began to rain, several raindrops falling, hitting her dead smack in the face.

"Come on, or you are going to get wet. The weather is still a little chilly even for this time of year; you know how spring is." Joe cajoled. "And besides that; you have your baby to think of."

"Okay," Karyn said and moved quickly with Joe back to his cab and waited as he held the door open for her.

Joe instructed the cab driver to pull up to the first sign of a pay phone.

"Oh no!" Karyn groaned.

"What is it?" Joe asked.

"What about my outfit?"

Joe glanced down at Karyn's skirt and top. They were dull, simple along with her spring coat; but she looked beautiful to him.

"You look okay to me."

"Okay."


	21. Chapter 21

Loves Journey: Chapter 21

 **Hotel Room**

It was a short nap, but Lee awakened refreshed. He sat up and glanced around. Amanda was not beside him, her suit outfit wasn't there, and he heard the faint sound of water running in the bathroom. Lee sat up and waited for Amanda to come out of the restroom. The door opened, and Amanda stepped out wearing a thick terry cloth robe; probably the most hideous robe he'd ever seen in his life.

"Hello!" Amanda said.

"Hi," Lee returned.

"How did you sleep?"

"Fine and how did you sleep?"

"Fine," Amanda replied as well as she stepped closer to Lee.

"Where did you get THAT?" Lee asked looking at Amanda's robe. It was pink, long with puffy little pieces; something akin to bird feathers as far as Lee could tell.

"Oh? This?" Amanda asked staring down at the robe.

"Yes, that!"

"My mother picked it up for me," Amanda answered.

"Did she? And here I thought she loved me all this time," Lee grunted, then questioned. "You aren't taking that with us when we switch to the honeymoon suite, are you?"

"You have a problem with that Stetson?" Amanda sauntered even closer to Lee; as she put her arms around his neck and pulled herself close against Lee's body, revealing one bare leg to show as she kissed him on the lips.

"Amanda!"

"What is it?" Amanda asked against his lips; drawing her tongue across his upper lip.

"I think I better go and get dressed," Lee said shakily.

"I guess you're right!" Amanda said, "But how about one last kiss?" She asked, pulling Lee closer towards her; deepening the kiss before she dropped her hands to her side and moved away.

Lee stood still momentarily as a moan of pleasure escaped his lips. Gathering all his wits and composure, he headed towards the bathroom.

As soon as Lee was gone, Amanda walked towards the closet, grabbed a garment bag from the far end and quickly got dressed. When she finished dressing; she checked her hair and make-up; then sat down in a nearby chair and picked up a magazine.

When Lee returned to the room, Lee found Amanda seated in a chair reading a magazine. She was fully dressed; her hair was still down, but the curls appeared looser somehow. Her makeup was fresh, but what caught Lee's eye was Amanda's midnight blue dress with spaghetti straps which was low in the front, showing just a hint of cleavage. A delicate sparkling design was woven across the top of the dress. The dress came just a little below her knees and when she crossed her legs; he noticed the slit that revealed a stocking leg. A pair of silver heals complimented the outfit.

Lee loved how amazingly sexy Amanda was. _How he was going to make it through the reception, he didn't know. He thought that she looked beautiful in her wedding outfit; but this dress, damn; made him realize how sexy Amanda was._

"Lee!" Amanda called, noticing that Lee hadn't said a word since he returned from the bathroom.

"Amanda, you look, absolutely amazing!"

"You don't look too bad yourself!" Amanda quipped back.

"But I'm not even dressed again yet."

"Exactly!" Amanda exclaimed looking Lee up and down.

"Amanda!"

Amanda continued to look at Lee as he stood there, dressed only in a towel; revealing his exposed chiseled skin.

"I uh, left my clothes out here," Lee said as he reached in the closet and grabbed his other tuxedo. "It might be better if I dress in the bathroom."

"Good idea, Stetson!"

"Whatever happened to the shy housewife?" Lee asked.

"You know what happened to her."

Lee gave Lee a puzzled look.

"You, sweetheart!"

Lee chuckled, chanced one last glance at Amanda and hurried back to the bathroom.

Amanda shook her head as she watched her husband walk across the room. Oh my gosh, was he handsome and sexy as hell! The sight of Lee dressed only in a towel caused a shiver to run up and down her body, and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the room.

"Amanda!" Dotty shouted between the two rooms as she knocked on the door. "Can I come in? You two decent?"

"Yes, Mother, we're dressed," Amanda replied.

Amanda stood up and walked over and unlocked the adjacent door.

"Thank you, Mother! I love your dress too."

Dotty had changed clothes as well, into a simple rose skirt and matching floral blouse.

"We're almost ready. Lee's getting dressed now," Amanda said.

"I think I'll go downstairs, take the boys and wait for you two."

"Okay."

"Can you and Lee collect your aunts?"

"Sure," Amanda answered.

"I can't believe how easily Lee soothed those two," Dotty said. "He sure was smooth as silk with them; telling them that besides you, they were the most beautifully dressed women at the wedding."

"Yeah, he is smooth as silk," Amanda said softly.

"And then when I said, what about me? He innocently answered: it goes without saying Dotty that you are lovely indeed. That man; like I said, definitely is an eleven!" Dotty smiled as she walked back to the other door.

The door opened, and the boys came flying into the room.

"Mom!" Philip beamed. "When do we leave?"

"We're starving!" Jamie retorted.

"There will be food at..." Amanda's voice trailed off at the sound of the phone ringing, "the reception."

"Boys, go check the room. Do you have everything?" Dotty asked as Amanda picked up the phone receiver.

"Hello!" Amanda answered.

"Hi, Amanda," Joe said.

"Hi, Joe, what's up?"

"I was wondering if it would be okay if I bring a guest with me?"

Lee stepped out of the bathroom and looked at Amanda questioningly. She mouthed Joe.

"Lee, you look handsome," Dotty said to Lee.

"Thank you!"

"Please!" Amanda said turning towards everyone in the room. "I'm sorry Joe, what did you say?"

Dotty motioned to the boys to walk to the door. Lee motioned to Dotty that he would bring down her bag.

"Oh!" Philip yelped as he darted back to the other room. "I forgot something."

"I was saying that I wanted to bring a guest with me; if it's alright?" Joe asked.

"Hold on!" Amanda covered the receiver with her hand and whispered to Lee. "Joe wants to know if he can bring someone with him."

Lee rolled his eyes. "Sure."

Amanda nudged Lee in the side. "Yes, it's fine," Amanda said into the mouth piece.

"There's just one thing," Joe started, "that you need to know, my friend is-" Joe tried to continue, but the noise in the background cut off his words.

"I got it!" Philip said. "Want to see it, Mom?" He questioned moving over towards Amanda and holding out a fountain pen.

"Philip!" Amanda screamed and jumped back as ink oozed from the top overflowing onto the carpet.

"Look, Joe, I'm sorry, but I gotta go. We'll see you there." Amanda replaced the receiver with a thud as she moved further out of Philip's way.

Lee grabbed the pen from Philip; took a tissue off the dresser; wiped the pen clean, twisted the top and placed it in the side of one of the bags.

"Amanda, did he get your dress?" Dotty asked.

"No, I think he just missed me by an inch," Amanda replied.

"Mom, I'm sorry," Philip lamented. "I found it, and I thought it was cool."

"It's okay," Amanda said. "If we had time, I know a trick that will take out easily. As it stands, we'll have to inform the management so that they can get it out."

Dotty grabbed both boys and shooed them towards the door. Lee and Amanda completed one last sweep of the room before they left and headed to Aunt Edna and Aunt Lillian's room.


	22. Chapter 22

Loves Journey: Chapter 22

 **Charter Train, Washington, DC**

Amanda and Lee sat on the train, at their table, waiting patiently as more guests came aboard the train. Most everyone that they were expecting was at the celebration. They'd already made their grand entrance into the train; they were slated to leave several minutes ago but were waiting to see if a few RSVPS would show up. Of course, there were a few cancellations and one person, though invited, they knew wouldn't come, for example, Dr. Smythe. Surprisingly, he'd sent a sizable gift certificate; one they were going to put aside and use later for their new house.

Lee and Amanda sat next to each other, hand in hand, looking around as a few more people filed in the car. They looked up and greeted each new person as they stepped up to the table. When they were alone again, Lee's smile was bright, and Amanda's face was lit up with joy. Lee looked into Amanda's beautiful eyes and said quietly, "Mrs. Stetson, I love you!"

"And, I love you too Mr. Stetson!"

The reception essentially consisted of three cars; the lounge area at the back of the train, the middle car with leather couches and tables set up as a spot for relaxing and easy conversation and then there was the main car. The last car was where the main celebration was taking place.

In the main car, there were several tables set up; three sets of tables near the front of the rail car, one off to the side where Lee and Amanda were seated and another table was adjacent to it; where the boys, Dotty and her date, Mr. Hinkerman were sitting together. To the right was Francine, her date Senator Chase Harris, III, Jeannie and Billy were all seated and waiting.

Each table was adorned with a blue glass vase overflowing with flowers. Each vase was filled with Yellow Sunflowers with green centers, Fluffy White Dutch Hydrangea, Blue Delphinium, Yellow Roses, White Freesia, and Yellow Craspedia Billy Balls. Wedding party tables were set with larger flower arrangements and more balloons. Blue napkins adorned each table.

On the platform, Leatherneck and Beaman served as ushers instructing guests to the right and through two sets of cars before they made it to the final car train to greet the wedding party. Leatherneck was dressed handsomely in a pair of grey pants, a crisp white shirt, and blue striped tie. Beaman's attire was similar to Leatherneck's, but his pants were lighter and his tie was a plain blue.

Inside the train, the boys were growing more restless by the moment.

"Boys, you just sit down and stop that fidgeting before you cause an accident!" Amanda said as they sat waiting for the last few guests to show up. "Especially you Philip, I already had one near miss."

"Ooh!" Jamie tormented Philip.

"Shut up, Worm Brain! Just wait until Mom sees the mess you left at home in the bathroom closet."

Amanda turned to Jamie and asked, "What mess is your brother talking about?"

"Uh, it's like this," Jamie began, but Dotty cut him off, "Amanda, whatever it is; I'll see to it when I get home. If it isn't a big mess, it can wait for Jamie when he gets back. If it is big, I'll clean it up and settle things with him later." She then turned to the boys. "And that's enough! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" The boys said in unison.

"This is a celebration. Speaking of which, when are things going to start?" Dotty asked Amanda.

"We're just waiting a few more minutes, for a few guests that said they were coming," Amanda answered.

"Speaking of waiting for more guests, I thought Joe was coming," Dotty whispered to Amanda.

"Yes, that's what Joe said over the phone, that he was coming," Amanda responded back in a quiet tone.

"Well, where is he?" Dotty demanded.

"We don't know, Dotty!" Lee replied, placing his hand on his mother-in-law's shoulder.

"Well, who is this guest he's bringing with him, anyway?" Dotty insisted further.

"I'm not sure exactly. I'm assuming it's someone from his work, but I don't know." _Now that she thought about it,_ _Joe hadn't been able to finish his statement. And she hadn't gotten around to calling him back._ Amanda thought to herself.

"The conductor will probably come in here any minute," Lee offered as he noticed Dotty's face. "But how about I go on up and talk to him? See how many more minutes we have?"

"That would be a good idea," Dotty responded back looking over at Amanda and smiling.

"What?" Amanda asked, a smile spreading across her face as well.

"Nothing, just thinking of how lucky you are, how lucky me and the boys are, to have a man like Lee in our lives."

Amanda didn't say a word; her only response was to broaden her smile.

Lee walked out of the car and went to where the conductor was waiting just inside the last car, by the doors.

"Hi, Mr. Stetson."

"Hi, there, what did you say your name was again? Troy?"

"Yes, Mr. Stetson! Have all your guests arrived?" Troy asked.

"No, not everyone," Lee said as he looked outside the window. "There are still a few people we are waiting for."

"Well, we can only wait about ten more minutes, but then, we will really need to pull off, or else we'll be off schedule."

"Okay, thanks. I'll go tell my wife and mother-in-law what you said."

"Okay, Mr. Stetson."

"And thanks for giving us a little more time."

"No problem. You're welcome!"

In spite of the fact that they were being delayed, Lee's good mood was still pleasantly intact. Lee walked back towards the Pullman car and as he walked through the entrance, he looked around at all the people that showed up for his and Amanda's reception. And he truly felt just how lucky he was; good friends, colleagues and even family. For now, he and Amanda would celebrate their union with everyone here but later, he and Amanda would have three nights to themselves to celebrate their marriage. The mere thought of their upcoming time together, made Lee's smile broaden even more, causing his two dimples to be revealed.

Lee walked back to the table. "Amanda, the conductor said if we don't leave in about ten minutes, we'll be off schedule." Lee lamented as he reached the table.

Amanda shrugged her shoulders. "I don't think we have much choice; it's not like we are at a restaurant or something and people can come and go as they please; the train does have a schedule."

"Well, that's true, dear," Dotty agreed. "Maybe he will surprise us and make it just in time!" Dotty commented then turned her attention back to Mr. Hinkerman.

"Maybe," Amanda said quietly looking at Lee.

"I'll go back and watch for him and any other last minute guests," Lee sighed in frustration, touching Amanda's hand for a moment.

"Hey," she said, as she touched the sleeve of Lee's shirt. "What were you thinking?"

"Hmm?"

"Just now, when you came back just now? Your face was lit up brighter than a Christmas tree."

"Oh, that! Just thinking about later, in the honeymoon suite," Lee replied softly, leaning in and kissing Amanda's cheek.

Despite herself, Amanda felt the heat in her cheek rise and that only heightened as glasses began clinking and Lee moved from kissing Amanda's cheek to kissing her mouth instead.

"Enough of that people!" Billy's voice bellowed. "At least wait until we pull off!" Billy continued laughter in his voice.

Lee continued the kiss a little longer, then stood up, straightened his tie and moved back out of the car and went and stood outside with Leatherneck and Beaman while he watched out for any straggling guests; especially keeping his eyes peeled for Joe and his guest.

After several more minutes, the conductor approached Lee. "Okay, Mr. Stetson, we better pull off now."

"Okay. Thanks for waiting as long as you did."

"You're welcome, Mr. Stetson," the conductor replied. "I hope everyone enjoys themselves."

"Thank you! I'm sure they will!"

Lee motioned towards Beaman and Leatherneck. "Hey, you guys can go on inside now. We've waited as long as we can; we're gonna pull off now." Lee followed behind them on the train. Lee was almost back to the last car when he spotted a cab pull up, and Joe along with a very young woman stepped out of a cab. "Who the hell is that?" Lee murmured as he quickly turned around and went back running through the cars and slammed right into the conductor. "I'm sorry; I'm sorry. But is it too late? My wife's ex-husband just showed up."

Lee and Troy looked outside the window and watched as Joe and the young woman feverishly waved their arms up and down towards the train.

"Let me see what I can do," Troy said as he rushed down the car to the engine, stopping several feet grabbing the communicator and speaking into it.

 _Leave it to him to be late!_ Lee thought to himself.


	23. Chapter 23

Loves Journey: Chapter 23

 **Train**

With a moaning of metal on metal, suddenly the train jerked to a stop and Lee reached his hand out and helped the young woman onto the train, then stood back while Joe stepped up onto the train behind her.

"You cut it kind of close there, didn't you?" Lee asked Joe grumpily.

"Yeah sorry, Lee for holding you up," Joe stepped back and said sheepishly. _Not a very good way to try and continue this relationship. Just wait until Amanda sees me._

 _The story of your life,_ Lee thought to himself. "Just glad you made it."

"Uh, me too," Joe commented, and then turned to Karyn. "This is my friend Karyn White. This is Lee Stetson, my ex-wife's new husband."

"Hi, nice to meet you!" Lee said as he extended his hand out.

"Nice to meet you as well, Sir. Thanks for letting me come on such short notice."

"Uh, no need to call me Sir! I'm not that much older than you. Just call me Lee. Our pleasure," Lee put his finger out and pointed towards the dining car. "Everyone is this way."

Karyn and Joe followed Lee through until they reached the main reception area.

"I'll introduce you to my wife, Amanda, as soon as I can get her attention. Things are beginning to get started, and my best man is about to say something," Lee ushered Joe to a table near the boys. "Oh and," Lee said turning around to say something else. His words were cut off in midstream at the sight of Karyn's round tummy as Joe helped Karyn off with her jacket.

"Lee, is something wrong?" Joe asked seeing Lee's face as it changed from a smile to a frown so quickly.

"No." _I'll say._ Lee thought to himself. _Wait until Amanda sees this._

"Scarecrow, can we begin now?" Billy asked rather loudly.

"Yes, of course."

Billy stood up and looked around the room. "Hello and thank you for being here today on this, may I say, very happy and festive occasion. Lee and Amanda met more than three years ago and despite all his push back and balking, they started working together. It was my idea to put them together as a team, and I must say," Billy stopped as his wife cut his words off.

"Must you dear?" Jeanine asked with a smile patting her husband's hand.

Billy smiled at his wife. "That I had a feeling that there was something special between them and I'm happy to say, that as usual, I was right."

Most everyone in the room chuckled except for Lee.

Amanda looked from Billy to Lee and frowned. She watched as Lee's eyes continued to remain in Joe's direction. "Lee, is something wrong?" Amanda asked Lee in a whisper.

"Did you see who Joe brought with him?" Lee questioned back in a quiet voice.

"What about her? What's her name anyway? I forgot to ask who he was bringing."

"Her name is Karyn," Lee whispered. "But that isn't the point. Did you see her, her…" Lee stammered.

"Her what?" Amanda hissed back. "Of course I saw her. Didn't you say it was okay if he brought someone with him?"

"Yes, it's just that," Lee started, but stopped at the sound of his name being mentioned.

"Lee," Billy was continuing, "is the best man I know. He is a great friend, a hard worker, a team player and truly a great person. A little hot around the collar sometimes, but that's one of the things that makes him special; his passion for what he believes in, his work, his friends and his family. I'm truly proud and blessed to call Lee my friend. I wish them nothing but happiness."

Hands went up and joined together in a round of applause. Billy sat down, and Francine stood up, dressed in a lovely lilac dress. It fitted her slim body perfectly, stopping just above her knee, with thin shoulder straps combined with a simple V neck, which emphasized her collarbones. "What can I say about Amanda? She talks like no one I've ever met in my entire life, fast and sometimes non-stop. She rushes in and is so cheery sometimes that she really does put Doris Day to shame and makes the girl next door look bad. I can't say I liked her all that much…"

"Hey hey," Lee started, his mind momentarily off Joe and his guest.

"Ssh, Lee, it's okay," Amanda said tapping Lee's hand. "You didn't like me all that much either, Sweetheart."

"I, well," Lee stammered.

"Grandma, who's Doris Day?" Philip asked.

"An actress," Dotty replied.

"What movie was she in?" Jamie asked next.

"Ssh, I'll tell you later," Dotty said.

"At least that's what I thought. That was before I really got to know her, well before I allowed myself to know her. I was actually jealous of her. She is so smart; smarter than I think she knows she is. Men find her sexy as hell. I think that's something she doesn't realize either. What I like most, yet drives me insane sometimes though is how positive and upbeat and a good friend she can be. And I'm pretty sure that Amanda is the best thing that ever happened to Lee. I wish her and Lee all that this world has to offer and more. Congratulations."

"See, it was okay. That was nice of Francine." Amanda said, tears forming in her eyes.

A few more people came up and had something to say. Princess Penelope said a few short words about how she knew that Lee and Amanda belonged together; the Colonel spoke about how proud he was of Lee and that he knew Amanda would make a great addition to the family; her and the boys and Dotty. Emily then Dotty got up to speak, and by the time they were done, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

When everyone was done and they announced that the couple would dance; Lee glanced over at Karyn and Joe who seemed distressed about something. Lee's muscles must've tensed up because Amanda ran her hand up his back, soothing him in only the way she could; whispered in his ear, "I love you, Mr. Stetson!" That was all it took for Lee to forget about Joe King and Karyn White. Lee turned his face to Amanda's as the smooth sounds of Kenny G's Songbird came on. Lee turned his attentions fully upon Amanda, forgetting about anybody and everything.

 _So, what if Joe was there with a pregnant woman? That was his business anyway!_ Lee thought to himself as he pulled Amanda even closer into an embrace, his face once again lighting up as Amanda placed her head on his shoulder and he heard her sigh of contentment.

Once their dance was over, Lee and Amanda returned to their table. _Maybe I need to go and see what's really going on before Amanda, the boys or Dotty for that matter, see Karyn._ Lee thought to himself as he stood up. "Amanda, I need to step away for a moment."

"Lee, is something wrong?" Amanda asked.

"Amanda, I need you and Lee for a moment." Dotty stated, as she touched Amanda's arm. "I want to introduce Lee to Mrs. Gilstrap, and she had a question about some of the references in the speech," she began then turned to Lee.

"Dotty, I'll be right back," Lee said and dashed off.

"Where is Lee going in such a hurry?"

"I don't know. He seemed a little distracted just now. Maybe I should go and see what's going on," Amanda offered.

"Oh, no, you don't young lady. You are staying with me! Maybe he just had to go to the men's room or something." Dotty replied waving her hand about. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"You're probably right, Mother!" Amanda replied back but she lifted an eyebrow as she noticed the direction Lee actually went, which was towards Joe's table. "Mother," she began but then stopped as Mrs. Gilstrap walked up to the table.

"Hi, Amanda. Thanks for inviting me," she glanced around. "Where is that handsome husband of yours?"

"Hello, Mrs. Gilstrap, I am so glad you could make it. Oh, Lee, will be back shortly."


	24. Chapter 24

Love's Journey: Chapter 24

 **Train Lounge**

After escaping Amanda's mom and the neighbor Mrs. Gilstrap that she was about to introduce him to, Lee found his way to Joe.

Lee walked over to Joe's table and asked if he would step into the lounge with him for a moment. "I need to have a word with you!"

"What about?" Joe asked back.

"Is anything wrong?" Karyn asked.

"No, we'll only be a moment," Lee replied.

"Is that okay?" Joe asked.

"Sure!" Karyn replied hesitantly.

"What's up, Lee?" Joe asked once they were seated in the lounge.

"That's what I want to know," Lee responded back.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked a look of confusion on his face.

"Who is the young lady you brought with you?"

"Oh, she's just a friend; someone I barely know actually."

"Is she the reason you really came back to D.C.?"

"What are you talking," Joe started then stopped, "do you mean the fact that she happens to be pregnant?"

"Yes, a fact that you just happened to forget to mention," Lee threw back in Joe's face.

"Do you really think so little of me?"

"Considering recent events what else am I supposed to think?"

"That I was trying to help out a friend; an acquaintance."

"I'm not sure I can believe you; you haven't been too forthright so far."

"I don't really care what you think," Joe stated, voice raised.

"Please lower your voice," Lee said, looking around.

"Is this about me?" Karyn asked walking into the car. "I told you this wasn't a good idea."

"I'm sorry, it's fine; it's just that I was a little surprised. What am I supposed to tell Amanda, Dotty, and the boys?"

"About what, Sir, I mean Lee?"

Amanda stepped up towards the three of them. "What are you supposed to tell us about?" Amanda asked her hands on her hip.

Karyn turned around to face the woman addressing them with the coarse and sultry voice.

Joe moved forward towards Amanda. "Amanda, I'm sorry,"

"Is this what you were going to tell me over the phone?" Amanda asked quietly.

"Yes, just that Karyn is pregnant, but that she got caught in the rain and was waiting for her sister."

"Don't I know you, you look familiar."

"I work at the coffee shop," Karyn explained. "You must remember me; I was in there the other day. Joe and I only met, each other just recently."

"Oh, yes, I remember you! So what happened?" Amanda asked.

"I locked myself out of my apartment; there wasn't anyone at home or in my apartment building, and I couldn't reach my sister Carrie. Joe saw me on his cab ride to your reception when he saw me sitting outside it began to rain and…well…he asked if I wanted to come with him."

"Does someone want to explain to me what is going on?" Lee asked.

"Lee, to give Joe some credit; I think he tried to tell me this over the phone. But that's when Philip almost got ink all over my dress." Amanda looked over at Joe for confirmation.

"Yeah, that's right," Joe answered absentmindedly. Despite himself, Joe's eyes wandered towards Amanda's attire, quickly taking in how beautiful she looked.

"Lee, I'm sorry, that I haven't given you much reason to think anything but bad things about me. Do you really think I'd bring a woman, someone that I got pregnant to Amanda's celebration?"

Lee's only response was the shrug of his shoulders. There was an awkward silence; when suddenly Karyn burst out laughing.

"You must admit, this is kind of funny!"

Amanda and Lee started laughing too; with Joe reluctantly smiling.

"Please accept my apologies," Lee said, offering his hand to Joe, then Karyn.

"Can we start over?" Amanda asked. "I'm Amanda Stetson. Would you like to join us?" Amanda asked Karyn. "The food will be served soon. Besides being hungry, I bet you're tired."

"I am!" Karyn agreed.

Amanda hooked her arm in Karyn's and led her towards the reception. "I bet I can get one of the waiters to get you some cheese and crackers to tide you over."

"Oh, that would be nice."

Joe and Lee stared at one another. Lee thought for a moment, and then said to Joe, "You know, like it or not, you and I are responsible for the boys now, and there will be times where we have to interact. Now, there are a few ways we can go about this thing, but the way I see it; it'll be easier if we try to get along. Not for us, but for the sake of Philip and Jamie and Amanda."

"I agree," Joe said.

"So, can you forgive me for jumping to conclusions?"

"I can if you'll forgive me for giving you reasons to be suspicious?"

They shook hands once again.

"Now, let's go!" Lee said. "Did you see how Amanda came in and took over? She's amazing!"

 _Yes, she is amazing!_ Joe thought in his head as he nodded.

 **Main Reception Car**

In the meantime, Beaman and Leatherneck sat in an area just near the bar.

"Did you see Francine's date?" Beaman asked Leatherneck.

"Yeah, he's tall, a senator and apparently very rich," Leatherneck returned.

"Did you ask her out?" Beaman slurred.

"No, did you?" Leatherneck asked.

"No! You don't have enough nerves to ask her."

"I have plenty of nerve; it's just that before I could, she'd already made plans with this, this senator," Leatherneck said splaying his hands out in front of him. "What's your excuse?"

"The same thing," Beaman answered, swaying to the side a little.

"Okay, whatever you say. You can't be drunk already, the bars only been open about half an hour."

"I bet she would've said yes if I'd asked her out," Beaman said.

"You want to bet on it?"

"Sure, but first another drink."

Billy had been keeping an eye on the two men, noticing them when they walked from the front of the train towards the back. Beaman he was used to; drinking a little too much. It was Leatherneck he wasn't too sure about, when it came to being outside of the office and what his socializing was like.

"I was wondering where you two had gone," Billy said walking over.

"Oh, nowhere, Sir!" Leatherneck said right away.

"Well, you see, we were trying to guess which one of us she would've asked out if we hadn't been too chicken to ask her out," Beaman said right away.

"You were what?" Billy asked.

"He's referring to Francine," Leatherneck replied.

"Why don't you just go and ask her for yourself?"

"We can't do that!" Beaman said.

"She has a date," Leatherneck concurred.

"Well, wait until she is alone and then see if you can get her to tell you. Now, why don't you two go on in there and get some food? That might help things look a little better."


	25. Chapter 25

Loves Journey: Chapter 25

 **Train**

Amanda and Lee chose their favorite Mexican restaurant as the caterer for the reception, and they chose several different kinds of Mexican dishes. Guests were served savory main course meats dishes of chicken and beef, rice and warm fresh tortillas. An array of side dishes of enchiladas, beans, and spicy rice was served. Instead of a traditional wedding cake, dessert consisted of traditional wedding cookies made with almonds and walnuts along with Lee's favorite cake, a poppy seed cake which would be served later near the end of the reception.

After dinner a few more people came up to give speeches which included Philip and Jamie; Paul, and Harry. From his seat, Joe watched and listened as each person walked up to the table and used a microphone and spoke words of encouragement to Amanda and Lee. Joe listened intently as a gentleman named Harry came up and gave an excellent speech while Amanda looked at Lee. "Lee told me once before I'd even met Amanda that he would follow Amanda blind in a snowstorm. Lee doesn't trust very easily, so I knew right then and there that he'd met the woman for him." Harry continued his voice full of pride.

When Harry sat done, Joe waited momentarily to see if anyone else was going to stand up. When no one got up, Joe stood and started towards the front where the microphone was. He was almost there when his eyes fell upon Amanda's face that was turned towards Lee, lovingly gazing at her new husband. _She once looked at me with such loving eyes. Now, all that love is turned towards him!_ Joe stopped dead in his tracks, turned and practically sprinted towards the lounge with Karyn right on his heels.

"Now, what was that all about?" Lee asked Amanda.

"I don't know," Amanda replied.

"What is it with him?" Lee spat out. _Joe King._ Lee thought to himself, but said out loud instead, "Amanda, I'm really starting to wonder how things are going to be with your ex."

"Pal, too late to squirm your way out of marrying me now," Amanda said holding up her wedding ring, a smile on her face.

Lee lifted her hand up to his lips and lightly grazed her knuckles with his lips. "Never, my love. It's Joe I'm trying to figure a way around."

"Lee, just give him some time. I think he'll come around."

"He better come around, or I make no promises about how I respond back to his antics."

"Lee, darling, we can't worry about Joe and how he behaves," Amanda said as she leaned in towards Lee, wrapping her arms around him. "We can only do our best to be nice and let Joe respond however he chooses. In the end, the boys can make up their own minds about him. Now come here, when's the last time you kissed me?"

"Oh, I don't know, several minutes ago," Lee replied moving in closer to Amanda and kissing her on the lips.

When they heard the clinking of glasses, Amanda pulled Lee closer deepening the kiss.

When they pulled apart, Lee leaned his head against Amanda's cheek and breathed in her scent, reveling in everything that was Amanda.

 **Lounge**

"You really aren't happy about your ex-wife getting married, are you?" Karyn asked Joe when they were alone in the lounge.

"No, I'm not," Joe responded back honestly.

"He seems like a nice man!"

"From what I know about him, he is nice, but I can't explain it," Joe said running his fingers through his hair. "I was all set to say something nice, especially, after I heard Lee's friend and mentor talking about them, but after I saw how her face lit up while she was looking at him, I couldn't go through with it."

"If you don't mind my asking, why did you and your ex-wife get a divorce anyway?"

"I don't mind you asking, but it's a long story."

"Well, I've got time," Karyn replied.

"Maybe some other time," Joe answered back. "Sorry."

"That's okay."

"Speaking of stories, what's the deal with the father of your child?" Immediately, Joe regretted his choice of words. "I'm sorry it's none of my business."

"No reason to be sorry," Karyn answered, shrugging her shoulders. "Not a long story at all. Remember, I told you he was no longer in the picture."

"Yeah, but what happened?" Joe asked hesitantly.

"Well, we dated for a few months, and we used protection, condoms mostly; one must've broken in the heat of the moment," Karyn explained as she spread her hands out to show her belly. "and here I am several months later."

"And the father?"

"Too much for him to handle, I guess. After I told him about the baby, he left, and I haven't seen or heard from him since."

Joe was silent to that. How could he just leave her like that when she's about to have his baby? _But didn't you do almost the same thing? Joe thought to himself. You left Amanda when the boys were little, hell, Jamie was barely even out of diapers._

"So, is that why you didn't go to the wedding?" Karyn asked seeing the look upon Joe's face.

"What?" Joe asked snapping out of his thoughts to hear what Karyn was saying.

"You didn't go to your ex-wife's wedding ceremony because you are still in love with her and you're jealous as hell of her new spouse?"

"Something like that I suppose," Joe said solemnly as he stood up. "How about something to drink? I can't remember what is considered safe, juice? Soda? Or do you want me to see if there is some milk?"

"I can have soda in small doses, but an orange juice would be nice. Thanks." Karyn answered back.

 **Reception Car**

Lee and Amanda danced again this time to "The Search is Over" by Journey. Afterward, the photographer took pictures of the wedding party while the guests listened to music and mingled. Once the main photos were taken, the photographer moved around the cars and captured an array of pictures. Amanda and Lee mingled amongst their guests, hand in hand. Lee laughed as Jamie jumped up and got out of his seat and ran away from a little girl that attempted to sit by him on his seat and put her arm around him. Amanda smiled too, as her eyes turned to see what had caught her husband's attention.

"Who is that?" Lee asked.

"Oh, that's little, well not so little now, Maryann," Amanda answered. "She's been after Jamie since the first grade. Her mom is Kimberly; she's over there, we've done a lot of work together at the PTA."

"Kimberly? That name sounds familiar."

"She's the one that threw her cake at Carol," Amanda whispered.

"Oh! That explains it."

Amanda raised her eyebrows.

"The daughter, real fireball, must take after her mother, I see."

"Lee Stetson!"

Lee laughed.

"Amanda!" Dotty said as she walked over towards them.

"Yes, Mother?"

"What is going on with that ex-husband of yours?"

"What are you—" Amanda began, but her mother cut her off.

"What was that all about, him walking up to say something and then leaving?"

"I—"

"And who is that woman with him?"

Lee and Amanda both laughed at Dotty.

"Mother, can you give me a chance to answer you?"

"Sure, go right ahead," Dotty answered innocently.

"Well, I don't know what that was all about; with Joe leaving and as far as the woman with him. She is just someone he met at the coffee shop. He saw her on the way here, and she was stranded."

Dotty opened her mouth to say something, closed it and then said, "Just like him, help everyone else in the world but not take time out for—" she stopped as she saw Philip walk up.

"Mom, can I go get something to drink from the lounge?" Philip asked.

"Of course, Dear!" Amanda replied.

"That's what I was saying Dotty!" Lee said once Philip had left them.

"So, Mother," Amanda decided to change the subject, "are you enjoying yourself? You and Mr. Hinkerman seem to be getting along well."

"Oh yeah, we are getting along pretty well. He just went to get us some drinks."

Amanda and Lee smiled at one another as they listened to Dotty go on and on about Mr. Hinkerman.


	26. Chapter 26

Loves Journey: Chapter 26

 **Wedding Car**

Paul stood in a crowd of five people talking amicably at the back of the train. He held a drink in his hand, but he'd since stopped drinking it. He held the glass in his hand as he watched the various people in the dining car. But Paul's main point of focus was primarily on Lee, Amanda, and their family. Paul watched how Lee appeared completely at ease with his new stepsons, how Amanda's face lit up as she stood by Lee but more importantly, he saw how Lee's eyes were never very far from Amanda. Oftentimes, his hand was on her back or touching her in some way. He remembered the many stories around the Agency about Lee and the many women he dated. According to the grapevine, Lee was always attentive to the women he dated; but this was a side of Lee that Paul hadn't even been aware existed.

Amanda had definitely softened Lee's heart; he smiled more, laughed a lot and was basically very attentive to his new bride and family. As he moved about the train, he heard several positive comments. Dotty, Lee's mother-in-law seemed quite taken with the great Scarecrow. Lee's uncle even seemed impressed with the nuptials. And it had been Paul's experience from knowing Lee that not only did he and his uncle not get along; but that his uncle was rarely pleased with anything Lee did. Lee's uncle seemed proud of Lee's relationship with Amanda. And besides their relatives, friends, and their colleagues alike saw a change in Lee, a positive change.

While Amanda was talking with her mother and an elderly gentleman, Paul caught Lee's eye and said, "So, Scarecrow, you did well!" Paul said.

"Hmm?" Lee questioned, then with recognition of what Paul meant, said: "Yeah, don't I know it!"

"I must say I'm surprised, I never figured you for the marrying type."

"No, neither did I."

"But Lee, old buddy, I'd be careful if I were you."

"Careful?"

"With Amanda."

"With Amanda?" Lee repeated, now quite confused. "Paul, what are you talking about?"

"Make sure to not mess things up with Amanda," he said slowly.

"What? I'm not going to mess things up."

"Because if you do," Paul continued slowly, "know this, that someone is waiting in the wings to take your place."

Paul stopped just as Francine walked towards them; she looked from one man to the other; taken aback by the unfathomable expression on Lee's face and the serious look on Paul's face.

"See you later, Scarecrow." Paul patted Lee's back then headed back into the other car. "Hi, Francine," Paul said over his back.

"Paul. Lee, there you are, Amanda and Billy are both looking for you. It's time to cut the cake."

"Huh?" Lee questioned, as he stood there, his mouth hanging open.

"I said," Francine paused. "Hey, Scarecrow, what's wrong with you?" Francine nudged Lee on the shoulder.

"Oh, nothing, just something Paul said."

"Lee, what was it?"

"Just if I didn't know any better, he just told me that he would be there if I mess things up with Amanda."

"What?"

"I know, seems odd."

"Didn't you say how he was always such a kidder?" _Francine didn't want to say anything, but Paul did look rather serious._

"Yeah, but-"

"I'm sure, it's nothing. Come on before Amanda comes and gets you herself then you will be in trouble. Uh oh, too late," Francine said noticing Amanda standing at the cars' open door.

"Francine, can you tell them, we'll be there in a minute?" Lee asked.

"Sure," Francine answered back.

"Lee, what's taking you so long and why is your face all frowned up?" Amanda asked.

"It's nothing."

"Lee Stetson!"

"Just something Paul said about me, that I better not mess things up with you or someone, would be waiting in the wings. I think he meant that he would be waiting."

"What? That's nonsense. He's just pulling your leg." Amanda shook her head.

"I don't think so."

"I don't even know Paul all that well."

"He sounded rather serious to me."

"Well, it doesn't matter. You couldn't possibly believe I'm interested in anyone else," Amanda said as she draped her arm around her husband's neck.

"No, just kind of took me by surprise, that's all."

"Come here," Amanda said saucily as she moved closer towards Lee's body placing her lips against his.

"Amanda," Lee moaned against her lips.

"Excuse me!" Beamed Billy from behind them as he cleared his throat, "Are you two ever going to cut the cake?"

Lee and Amanda pulled away reluctantly.

"The sooner, you get that over with, the sooner, we can get these people out of here and you two can resume what you were…hmm…" Billy paused, "doing."

Amanda and Lee laughed as they headed back to the main car. Billy paused when he caught sight of Leatherneck and Beaman sitting and talking near the bar.

"Beaman, Leatherneck. So, how did it go?"

"Sir?" Beaman asked.

"With Francine, Beaman?""

"We were talking about our conversation with Francine," Beaman answered, his voice slurred.

"Well, what did she say?" Billy asked.

"She said she couldn't possibly pick either of us," Leatherneck said.

"Because she thought both of us were such fine men that it would be hard to determine which one of us she should choose," Beaman answered, his words slurring a tiny bit.

"Well, see, at least she didn't say she wouldn't pick either of you or even worse yet, tell you she would pick one of you over the other. Why don't you two come on, it's time to cut the cake."

"Okay, Sir!" Beaman replied and walked towards the Pullman car.

"And, I think you've had enough to drink for the rest of the afternoon."

Beaman nodded in response.

"William Melrose, you are terrible," Billy's wife voice said just behind him as he walked back into the car. He hadn't realized that she was behind him in the other car.

"Billy, you are something else," Jeannie said walking up behind her husband.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," Jeannie asked.

"I didn't do anything, honest."

Billy's wife gave him a look. "I don't know what exactly you did, but I know you had a hand in something."

"I just told them to ask Francine for themselves which one of them she would've taken to the reception." Billy began then continued at the look upon his wife's face.

"Hmm hmm."

Jeannie moved closer to her husband and kissed him on the cheek.

"What was that for?"

"Nothing in particular. I love you, that's all."

"And I love you too."


	27. Chapter 27

Loves Journey: Chapter 27

 **Train Station: Pullman Dining Car**

Around five o'clock, Amanda and Lee said their goodbyes. Dotty had a difficult time suppressing the tears that threatened to fall while Mr. Hinkerman waited patiently for Dotty to say goodbye for the fifth time; acting as though they wouldn't be home Tuesday afternoon.

The couple then said goodbye to Harry, Emily and the prince and the princess. Billy stepped up to Lee and said, "You did good, Lee! I'm so proud of you, Scarecrow."

"That means a lot to me, Billy."

"You know I think of you as my own son," Billy commented.

"I know. I feel as though you are the closest thing I have to a father," Lee said quietly looking around to see whether or not the Colonel was in earshot.

Billy smiled and hugged Lee, while Jeannie kissed Amanda on the cheek and said her goodbyes. Billy turned to Amanda and said, "Amanda, congratulations. You have done wonders for Lee. He is so lucky to have you in his life."

"Aw Sir, I think I'm pretty lucky myself," Amanda answered back, in Amanda fashion.

"I think you are both pretty lucky," the Colonel said walking up and slapping Lee on the back causing Lee and Amanda to smile.

Several minutes later, Amanda and Lee were standing outside on the train platform, the limo waiting patiently while the couple said their last goodbyes. Amanda and Lee said goodbye to the boys, while Joe and Karyn stood off to the side. Amanda gave the boys some last minute instructions and reminders before she hugged and kissed both of them. Lee hugged them both and said goodbye as well.

Amanda then walked over to Joe and Karyn.

"Thank you so much for allowing me to crash your wedding reception," Karyn said and pulled Amanda into an embrace. "I'm sorry; I hope you didn't mind, too much."

"It's perfectly alright," Amanda said back. "What will you do if your sister isn't here soon?"

"Someone should be back at the house by now. But I think my sister should be popping up soon."

"I hope so, for your sake. I would imagine you're even more tired now," Amanda suggested.

"I am, but I'm okay," Karyn assured Amanda.

"Take care of yourself and that baby that you have growing inside you."

"I will. You take care of yourself also."

Amanda then turned to Joe and said. "Joe, thanks for taking the boys for the weekend. Lee and I really do appreciate it," Amanda reached her hand out towards Joe's hand, but pulled back at the hopeful look in Joe's eyes.

"Amanda," Joe said softly, glancing from Amanda back to Lee. "It will be my pleasure to have the boys for the weekend. I hope that you and Lee have a great weekend and I'll see you next week."

Joe kissed Amanda on the cheek.

Lee's eyebrow shot up, but he kept quiet.

"Take good care of her," Joe said to Lee, nodded his head and walked away.

 _Of course, I'll take good care of her._ Lee thought to himself, but simply nodded his head at Joe's retreating figure before he turned to Amanda.

Knowing all too well what Lee was thinking, Amanda rubbed Lee's shoulder, smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. "You already take good care of me," she quipped.

"And you take good care of me, so we're even."

As everyone moved down the train platform, Lee took Amanda's hand in his; and as they started to step into the limo Amanda heard Francine call out, "Wait!" She moved towards them; her date Senator Harris waiting along the train tracks, talking to Beaman and Leatherneck.

"Lee, give me a minute?" Amanda asked turning towards Lee.

Lee nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Francine, what's up?" Amanda questioned as she and Francine moved down the platform.

"I just wanted to say thanks!" Francine said hesitantly as she shuffled her feet back and forth.

"Thanks for what?" Amanda questioned.

"For allowing me to be part of your wedding celebration; being your maid of honor. I don't have many; actually I don't have any girlfriends. And, I, well, have come to value our friendship."

Amanda looked at Francine, half expecting to see a smile on Francine's face to indicate that she was joking. She was happily surprised to see how serious she was. She reached out and touched Francine's arm.

"Francine, I feel the same!"

Francine looked up at Amanda and smiled. She pulled her into a hug as a tear came to her eyes. She then quickly pulled back and straightened up. "Now, go on. Enjoy your time with Lee. Don't worry about your family. I'll see you back in the office on Tuesday."

"Thank you, Francine. We can do lunch; I want to hear everything about the Senator."

Francine nodded her head in agreement and smiled. Amanda turned and joined Lee.

"Everything okay?" Lee asked.

"Everything's just fine," Amanda answered, kissing Lee on his cheek.

Lee smiled and pulled her into a quick embrace. The driver opened the door for Lee and Amanda; and they stepped inside.

 **Additional author's notes:**

Thanks to Tracey and Karen who continue to faithfully Beta my stories.

However, any errors not caught, I take full responsibility for.

Thanks to those of you who continue to read the story and post reviews and comments. I appreciate your taking the time to read my stories.


	28. Chapter 28

Author's Note: Parts of this chapter is rated NC-17. If you are under 18 or are uncomfortable, you may wish to skip the middle section and go to the end of the chapter.

Loves Journey: Chapter 28

 **Train Platform**

After Lee and Amanda pulled off, Joe, Philip, and Jamie stood on the platform waiting for Karyn's sister.

"Look, Joe, thank you for bringing me with you today, but if my sister isn't here soon, I'll take a cab back to my apartment building. I'm sure she'll be there soon."

"I won't do any such thing."

"I'm sure the boys don't want to wait much longer. They must be hungry, tired and cold."

"It's okay, Ms. White," Jamie said.

"Yeah, we can wait with you," Philip agreed.

"The boys are right," Joe agreed.

"But I don't want to put you to any more trouble than I have already."

"It's okay, but, I tell you what, if your sister isn't here in the next few minutes, we'll take a cab back to a restaurant. I'm sure we can find something near your apartment building."

"Well, okay, that sounds fair," Karyn replied.

 **Limo Ride**

The limo pulled off and headed towards Lee and Amanda's hotel. As the limo proceeded up the street, Lee reached out and touched one of Amanda's hands. "Amanda, I love you!"

"I love you too, Lee," Amanda answered back.

Lee pulled Amanda into his arms and said, "Alone at last!" Lee said pulling Amanda into his arms, kissing her.

"Yes, at last," Amanda replied, returning Lee's kiss, her hands moving up and around his neck, pulling him closer; her breasts crushing against Lee's chest.

"Oh!" Lee breathed against Amanda's lips luxuriating in the feel of her nipples hardening against the thin material.

"We're almost at the hotel, but I've wanted to do this all morning," Lee said as he pulled one then the other strap off Amanda's shoulder. Lee took one nipple, then the other between his fingertips, his lips following, leaving a blaze of hot kisses across the top of each breast before his lips covered one, then the other nipple.

Amanda's body immediately came alive from Lee's touches. "Oh my gosh!" Amanda moaned as her hands curved under Lee's jacket pulling his shirt out of his pants as she reached up and caressed Lee's back, her nails scraping along his back, her body arching closer towards Lee's body.

Lee's hand slowly inched its way up the slit in Amanda's dress; his fingertips brushing against the material of the garter, then grazing her panty line, his fingers just inches away from their destination.

"Lee! I think we're here, already," Amanda said at the sudden realization that the car had stopped.

Reluctantly, Lee stopped his wandering hands, straightened Amanda's clothes then his own, kissed her on the cheek and sat up.

The driver opened the door just as they'd finished adjusting their clothes. They stepped out, their faces flush red from almost getting caught.

"Thank you!" Lee and Amanda said in unison to the driver.

 **Back at the Train Station**

Several minutes after the limo pulled off, a cab pulled up to the station and a petite blond woman dressed in a grey business suit got out of the cab. As she proceeded closer towards them, Joe noticed that her nose had the same curvature as Karyn's and that they were the same build. Although Karyn was a little taller and her hair was brunette instead of blond, there was no mistaken the fact that this woman was related to Karyn. She stalked down the platform, heels clicking rapidly across the concrete.

"Karyn!" The blond woman shouted noticing her sister moving even quicker across the ground. "Are you alright? What happened?" She questioned, her eyes moving up and down her sister's form; then towards the tall gentleman beside her sister and towards the boys standing next to him.

"Hey Carrie, I'm fine." Karyn turned to Joe, Philip, and Jamie and introduced them to her sister.

"Hi," replied Philip and Jamie.

"Well thanks for taking care of my sister," Carrie said to Joe. "I'm Carrie White." She then nodded towards Jamie and Philip.

"You are welcome! My name is Joseph King, but everyone just calls me Joe," Joe said offering her his hand, but dropped it awkwardly when she turned towards her sister and said, "Well, Karyn, we better get going. Thanks again, Joseph." Carrie briskly, then nodded her head at the boys once again, and then turned her full attention to Karyn as they walked towards the cab. "Karyn you really must be more careful; especially since you are pregnant."

"Carrie I know; it was an accident alright."

"Okay, okay. But Karyn? Really? A wedding reception on the train?" Carrie questioned just loud enough that Joe and the boys could hear her. "Who are those people?"

"Carrie just come on, and I'll explain later. What took you so long and where were you at?"

"I got here as soon as I could, and I was at work. I told you I had a presentation to make today, for a new client."

Joe and the boys watched as they walked away. Joe shook his head at Carrie's comments. Once the two women were seated, and the cab pulled off, Joe put his arms around his son's shoulders and asked, "So, what do you boys want to do tonight? I'm open to just about anything."

"Pizza?" Philip questioned.

"And a movie?" Jamie asked.

"Sure," Joe answered back.


	29. Chapter 29

Loves Journey: Chapter 29

Author's Note: This chapter is rated NC-17. If you are under 18 or are uncomfortable, you may wish to go to the next chapter.

 **Hotel**

Amanda and Lee arrived at their hotel, and as Lee checked in Amanda waited by his side. After receiving their room key, they entered the elevator along with the bellboy and a few other guests. All the while, on the ride up to the honeymoon suite; Amanda and Lee shared stolen glances at one another as one person after another got off the elevator. When the last person got off and there were only a few floors left to go; Lee ran one hand along the slit of Amanda's dress; his eyes focused in front of him as he looked towards the elevator doors and the bellboy. Amanda held her breath afraid to keep from releasing the moan of pleasure at Lee's touch. It wasn't until the elevator came to a complete stop at their floor and Lee had moved his hand from her thigh that Amanda released the breath she'd been holding.

Once at their room, Lee generously tipped the bellhop, quickly closed and locked the door behind him and he immediately pulled Amanda into his arms kissing her, releasing all the pent-up passion of the day. Amanda's legs quivered at the feel of Lee's hands running up the slit in her dress, then along her thigh and then her hip.

"Amanda, I've been wanting to do that all afternoon!" Lee said, moving back just a little, his eyes gazing directly into Amanda's eyes that were darkened with passion. They'd spent so much time teasing one another earlier; that they were already pretty ready for one another. Lee lifted Amanda up into his arms, kissing her while he carried her to the bed and sat down with her still upon his lap.

"I feel the same way," Amanda replied returning Lee's kiss with a passion of her own as she reached up and pushed Lee's suit jacket off his arms; pushing at the material until it had fallen off his shoulders to the floor. Amanda then released Lee's shirttails from his pants then moved her hands up the front of Lee's shirt as she began to unbutton his shirt. "Lee, I've never wanted anyone or anything as badly as I want you," Amanda moaned out.

"Oh, Amanda!" Lee was fueled by Amanda's words and feel of her fingers along his chest as she finished undoing the buttons on his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders then tossing it on the floor.

"I love the way you look in this dress!" Lee said while his hands continued their assault on Amanda's body while he looked down at her dress.

"Oh yeah? Seems to me, you want to get me out of this dress," Amanda answered saucily at the touch of Lee's hands upon her skin.

"I would say you are so right!" And as if to prove his point, Lee expertly moved his hands up along Amanda's stomach, using his other hand to push the dress up and over her head, the material falling into a puddle on the bed. Lee's eyes moved up Amanda's body starting at her gartered hosiery up to her scandalizing blue panties, eyes growing wide when he reached her breast. "Amanda, you've been wearing this," Lee's voice shaky with desire, "all day?"

"Hmm hmm!" Amanda moaned her brain mindless as Lee's hands worked their magic along her thighs. Each touch set off moan after moan of desire from Amanda's body as she struggled to keep her composure. She was already very wet from their interactions in the limo that she knew it wasn't going to take much to push her over the edge. But Amanda craved the feel of her husband's body, skin upon skin, against her own body.

"I'm so wet for you already," Amanda murmured.

"Are you?" Lee asked as he moved his hand up her thigh towards the soft mound between her legs. "Yes, yes, you are," Lee said as he stroked her even more before he stilled his hands. Amanda released a groan of displeasure at the loss of contact.

Still, in Lee's arms, Lee moved and placed Amanda in the middle of the bed. Rolling on his side, Lee removed his remaining clothes then pulled at Amanda's garters and underwear until she was completely naked before him. Lee continued to indecently play with her until a wave of completion hit her with the first onset of release. Lee kneeled between her legs and entered her. Amanda wrapped her legs around Lee's back as Lee moved against Amanda's warmth, one quick thrust after another until Amanda was beside herself.

"Lee, oh, Lee," Amanda moaned at each thrust.

"Amanda, I, oh, my Amanda," Lee cried out. "Ooh!" Lee sighed out loud as he felt Amanda's body shatter again and his release followed after hers.

Lee pulled Amanda into his arms and let out a sigh of contentment at the feel of her in his arms.

"Lee, I know this isn't the first time we've made love, but" Amanda stopped as a blush inadvertently appeared across her face. "I just was wondering how…" Amanda stopped as she tried to find the right words.

"How it was, now that we're married?" Lee continued the question for her.

"Yes, something like that," Amanda answered quietly.

Lee pulled Amanda even closer to him, cradling her in his arms. "Of course, I don't have anything to compare this to, as far as being married or anything; but Mrs. Stetson, my love; this was fantastic! There are no words to describe how I'm feeling right now."

"Oh, Lee! It's that way for me too!" Amanda said as she snuggled closer to Lee. "I love you so much, Mr. Stetson."

"And, I love you, Mrs. Stetson."

"Lee, I'm so," Amanda yawned, "hungry, yet so sleepy."

"Yeah, me too," Lee agreed. "Let's just close our eyes and take a rest."

"Then, we can order some room service," Amanda finished.

"And some champagne."

"And strawberries."

"Delicious."

They both closed their eyes and went to sleep.


	30. Chapter 30

Loves Journey: Chapter 30

 **Hotel Room**

A few hours later, Amanda slowly opened her eyes, blinking several times as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, glancing around the room as she took in everything. Amanda realized just how beautiful the suite was and she found herself quite impressed with the décor. When they first arrived at their suite, she and Lee had actually seen very little of the room, having been too busy with other things to notice anything besides the bed. Now, Amanda could make out the dark wood of the bed's headboard with adjacent night stands. The main room was painted in yellow and white tones, and held a chair and small couch across the room in the corner, a dresser that housed a television and VCR to the left of the chair. Next, there were French doors that opened out onto the balcony. The quaint dining table and two chairs faced the French doors were on the other side of the room.

She now turned and looked at her husband's sleeping figure beside her, smiling at the memory of their lovemaking provoking a blush to spread across her face at the mere thought of the passion she and Lee experienced in the limo and then later in their hotel room. She'd still be asleep now, if not for the rumble of her stomach. _One thing about wedding receptions, the bride and the groom rarely get any food. From one person or another needing your attention, you usually only get a nibble here or there, or you're hyper from the days' event, and you don't eat very much._

In any case, she was hungry now. Amanda glanced over at Lee and thought about whether she should wake him and see if he was hungry or if she should just order some room service. Whatever she did, she needed to put on some clothes. She thought about the items in her suitcase and smiled as she remembered one particular item. _Hmm, Amanda, you could order room service, then take a quick shower and…_ " Amanda thought to herself.

As she moved to get up, Lee rolled over onto his stomach. Amanda leaned down and whispered into Lee's ear, "Sleep, sweetheart, I think you're going to need your energy later." Amanda walked through the set of double doors into the dressing room, then into the bathroom and as she did so, she had to catch herself from crying out at the surprise of having a whirlpool in the bathroom. Her smile grew even brighter as she thought more and more about all the wonderful fun she and Lee were going to have the remainder of the weekend.

 **Francine's Apartment**

Francine walked into her apartment and closed the door with a sharp thud behind her.

After securing the locks, she sat in a nearby chair. _Whoa! For a moment there, she thought she might have to use one of her operative moves to get him to leave._ He'd been very persistent about seeing her to her apartment, but she managed to diffuse him and close the door downstairs before he could get in. She'd looked around for the doorman George, but he must've stepped away for a moment.

"Get a grip Desmond!" Francine said out loud. It's not like you were in any 'real' danger. Yes, the senator might've been a little overzealous and all hands, but nothing you couldn't handle. Hell, you've had to deal with much worse out in the field. Must've been that last drink he had at the bar they stopped off after the reception that did it!

 _You've certainly had worse first dates, but this one was certainly at the top of the list._ Francine thought to herself as she got up and changed clothes. If there ever was someone full of themselves, it was Mr. Chase Harris the third! One half of the evening, she spent trying to get a word in during the conversation, the rest of the time she spent trying to keep his hands off her.

She wished Amanda and Lee were back already. On the one hand, without them around, she would have some peace come Monday, but if they were here, she'd have someone she could confide in about her date.

Amanda certainly was one lucky woman. Francine never thought of herself as a jealous person and she certainly never thought she'd admit this, but she envied Amanda. Not only did Amanda have Lee, but she also had an ex-husband that seemed to still care about her. Francine didn't know much about Mr. King, not personally; mostly what she found out during the Furrows' case and the little Amanda had told her. Lee shared a little more than Amanda did, but even that wasn't a whole lot and considering Lee's bias, his thoughts couldn't be trusted. Everyone in the agency knew that Lee was very jealous when it came to Amanda. And then Lee said that Paul Barnes made some crack about someone waiting in the wings for Amanda if Lee screws things up. She'd disputed with Lee the possibility that Paul was teasing, but then again you never know.

 _Too bad about Mr. Harris, he was a catch, money, good looks, prestige! Oh well Francine, maybe better luck next time._ _Today was Amanda and Lee's day anyway, and you will not let your thoughts cloud that. Maybe one day you'll be the one walking down the aisle towards your happily ever after. Until then, you just have to be patient and wait. You could always go out with Beaman or Leatherneck._ She almost laughed at the very thought of being with Beaman or Leatherneck. _Desmond, you're losing your touch, your pickings are looking rather slim._ She had to admit though that the two of them were kind of funny, walking up and asking her which one of them she would've gone out with if they'd asked her. Beaman was, of course, drunk as usual which made him look even less attractive. But Leatherneck, he well, was looking kind of good, in a nerdy kind of way. Now, she knew she was losing it. "Get up, get a glass of wine and paint your nails. That's what you're going to do."


	31. Chapter 31

Love's Journey: Chapter 31

 **Lee and Amanda's Hotel Room**

Lee awakened with a huge grin on his face as he remembered his and Amanda's passionate lovemaking from earlier. Eyes still closed, Lee rolled over and reached out for Amanda. When he didn't feel her there, his eyes grew wide as they flew open. He sat up and looked around the room; while he took note that their discarded clothes were picked up and folded on top of the lounge chair. As he glanced around the room; Lee saw a bucket of champagne on the dresser, a tray with an assortment of cheese, crackers, raw vegetables, and dip; mini sandwiches and fruit arranged on a tray.

"Amanda?" Lee called out sitting up and leaning forward to look towards the dressing room that was cracked open.

"I'll be out in a minute," Amanda called back.

"Amanda, I was wondering whether or not we should call Joe and check on the boys?" Lee asked as he reached for his boxers and put them on before he lay back down on the bed, arms folded behind his head, eyes closed.

"No, I think we'll wait until tomorrow and check on them, give Joe a chance to bond with them a little. Besides, I don't want Joe to think we don't trust him, especially after the last incident when he brought work home."

"But we don't trust him," Lee mumbled.

"Lee Stetson."

"Well, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Amanda answered back leaving the bathroom and walking past the bed towards the tray of food. "It's funny, you only just started being a parent, and yet you have the instincts for it already." Amanda picked up the plate she had from earlier and added a few more items on it, then moved over and sat down at the end of the bed.

"Well, Amanda," Lee drawled out sitting up and opening his eyes turning towards Amanda, "I'm a spy after all," his voice trailed off at the sight of Amanda and what she was wearing.

"I thought you didn't like that word," Amanda said with a smile in her voice. "Isn't that what you told me when I met you at that crazy party?"

"Yes, that's what I said," Lee said slowly as he focused his eyes on Amanda and the robe she was wearing. "Amanda, what—" Lee started but stopped as Amanda cut him off.

"Lee, were those people at the party really your friends? Remember you said that they were your friends?"

"Well, I might've said they were friends; but they were more like acquaintances than friends, and yes, I did go out with a few of the women, but nothing serious."

"Then no wonder," Amanda said.

"No wonder what?"

"You came looking for me."

Lee opened his mouth to deny it; then closed it instead. He supposed in a way, he'd been looking for something, or someone, that could fill the void that had been there way too long. "I suppose you were right; I was looking for something or someone to make me whole, but at the time I didn't know it and certainly didn't expect to find anyone like you because I didn't know anyone as special as you existed."

"Oh, Lee!" Amanda said quietly walking over towards Lee scooching in to kiss Lee on the lips before she popped a strawberry in his mouth. Amanda laughed as she again sat down on the bed stretched one leg out in front of her and wiggled it as she reached for another strawberry.

"Now, Amanda, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, Lee?"

"Why do you have THAT on?"

"What, this robe?" Amanda asked looking down at herself.

"Yes, THAT robe," Lee answered pointing at the robe with his index finger. "I thought you said you weren't going to bring it; that you were leaving it with your mother."

"Oh, did I say that?" Amanda questioned eyes wide with innocence as she glanced down at her pink fuzzy robe again.

"Amanda, please tell me you didn't open the door for room service with that on," Lee said as another thought occurred to Lee.

"Yeah, well, I did."

"But..."

"No one would get the wrong idea, especially not with this robe on."

"You went to the train station in your nightgown under your coat, and you saw where that got you."

"Yes, I do," Amanda said slowly, then continued, "it got me you!"

"Exactly! We don't want anyone getting any ideas."

"Hilarious, Lee!" Amanda returned with a smirk upon her face and a certain mischievous look in her eyes.

"Amanda Stetson, just what are you up to?"

"Nothing." Amanda said then picked up a strawberry and place it up to Lee's lips as she asked, "You want another strawberry?"


	32. Chapter 32

Loves Journey: Chapter 32

 **Hotel Honeymoon Suite**

Amanda moved closer towards Lee, bringing the tray with her and placing it in the middle of the bed between herself and Lee. "I know you said you were hungry when you fell asleep. I hope this helps," Amanda said gesturing towards the tray of food.

 _He was hungry alright, but it wasn't for food. Amanda! What are you trying to do to me? I never would've imagined that she would be so wild and carefree when it came to making love, so full of surprises._ "Sure, Amanda, I'd love something to eat."

"I hope I picked the right stuff," Amanda commented casually, all the while moving her leg up and down exposing more and more of her thigh. "But if you want something else," Amanda said, smiling, eyes bright directed towards Lee, "just let me know."

 _How come everything she's saying sounds seductive? Yeah, he wanted something else, alright!_ Lee thought to himself. _He would play along with her._ "No, this is fine," Lee responded grabbing a sandwich, taking a few bites then putting the sandwich down.

"How about a movie?" Amanda asked.

"Sure," Lee answered. Lee's eyes narrowed at the sight of Amanda closing her robe and bending forward to grab the remote control.

"Amanda, aren't you hot with that on?" Lee asked.

"No," Amanda answered quickly. "Look, how about a cowboy movie? John Wayne?" Amanda asked after flicking through a few channels.

"I'm surprised you would want to watch a cowboy movie," Lee said. "But then again with you, nothing should surprise me."

Amanda smiled as she answered Lee. "I like all kinds of movies. The boys and I watch cowboy movies all the time."

"Yeah, I suppose you would, having two boys and being the kind of involved mother that you are. But I would think you'd want to see something more romantic, something along the lines of Romancing the Stone."

"We've seen that ninety times already," Amanda answered with a smirk.

"Of course I know that. I mean something like it. It is our honeymoon. What about a good spy movie!"

"Very funny, but no spy movies, not tonight!"

"I'm just being funny," Lee replied as he took more food into his mouth and stretched back against the headboard. "If you want to watch a western, it's okay with me."

"There is a movie coming on in about 15 minutes."

"What about a glass of champagne?" Lee asked.

"I forgot about the champagne," Amanda responded as she began to move.

"No, I'll get it!" Lee said as he got up.

Lee opened the champagne, poured two glasses and turned towards Amanda, holding a glass out to her.

"A toast to us, Amanda! I love you! Thank you for saying yes to becoming my wife! This was by far the best day of my life."

"Lee, I love you too! This has been a great day for me as well! Thank you for asking me to marry you!"

They clinked glasses then twisted their glasses so that they could take sips from one another's glass then placed them down on the nightstand. Lee pulled Amanda towards him and kissed her on the lips. The kiss was growing more tantalizing and heated as Lee's tongue entered Amanda's mouth mingling with hers when the sudden jolt of the television's volume heightened causing Lee and Amanda to both jump.

"Oh, my gosh," Amanda said, sitting up and pointing towards the television before leaning back against Lee's chest, her eyes refocused on the screen.

Raising an eyebrow and glancing at Amanda, Lee draped one arm around her as they went back to watching the television screen.

 **Francine's Apartment**

Francine was sitting comfortably, drink in hand, a movie was just starting and while she contemplated fixing herself a sandwich, when suddenly there was a knock on her door. Glancing around at the clock, she realized that it was still relatively early, not even ten o'clock which was a sad state of affairs, her being home already. _But who could it be? Oh, not the senator. How would he get in?_

"Francine, it's me, open up." A familiar voice came through the door.

 _Leatherneck?_ Francine thought to herself. _What is he doing here?_

"If you don't open up, I'm gonna pick the lock," the voice came again, softly yet audible enough for her to make out.

"What are you doing here? And how did you, oh never mind, one of the hazards of our business," Francine muttered unlocking and opening the door.

"Well, one, I wanted to see if you made it home okay and two I wanted to make sure that that senator didn't do anything that warranted me finding him and kicking his butt all across Washington DC."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I just so happen to be at the bar where the two of you were, and I noticed that he seemed to have about ninety hands. I didn't step in because you seemed like you were handling yourself rather nicely."

"Well, thank you!" Francine said in surprise. She never even noticed Leatherneck at the bar.

"Your buddy Beaman was there too, which is why it took me so long to get here. He really needs to stop drinking so much. I was going to send him home in a cab, but he passed out before the cab could pull off, so I had to go with him. Anyway, the other reason I'm here," Leatherneck paused reaching in one of his back pockets.

"Yes?"

"Is because if you check your purse, you'll see that your wallet isn't in it."

"What?"

"Yeah, I can never figure out, why women keep their purses open. I'm always telling my mom to keep her purse closed."

"Are you serious? I never lose my wallet, a comb or a brush, maybe, but not my wallet. My agency identification is in my wallet," Francine's voice trailed off as she walked to get her purse. Francine starred at Leatherneck then shook her head once she saw that besides lipstick and her makeup, the purse was virtually empty.

"I imagine while the senator was trying to grab at you, your wallet fell out of your purse. I found it when I was guiding Beaman out of the restaurant."

"Well, Leatherneck, I have to say thank you."

"We're off the clock, you can call me Nelson."

"Sure, Nelson."

"So, I take it, the senator went home," Leatherneck said slowly, looking around.

"Yeah, I sent him on his way a while ago."

"And you are in one piece?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay well," Leatherneck paused.

"Leatherneck, I mean Nelson, I was just about to fix myself a sandwich. You know how wedding receptions are. You eat there and then later you are nearly starving to death."

"Yeah, I know how that is."

"Would you care for a sandwich?"

"Sure," Leatherneck responded quickly.


	33. Chapter 33

Parts of this chapter is rated NC-17. If you are under 18 or are uncomfortable, you may wish to read the beginning and the end of the chapter only.

Loves Journey: Chapter 33

 **Hotel**

Amanda and Lee sat on the bed, their backs against the headboard, eyes fixed on the television screen while their minds were completely somewhere else. They'd eaten their fair share of sandwiches, cheese and crackers, as well as fruit and champagne. Lee poured them another glass of champagne. They were about thirty minutes into the movie and Amanda was beginning to feel the heat from wearing the hot robe and from being so close to Lee and not having him touch her. Throughout the movie, Amanda played a seductive game with the robe she was wearing or was half wearing. Every few minutes, Amanda made a move of some sort that exposed a little bit more of what was hidden under her robe.

 _Okay, Amanda, enough playing games with Lee. It's time you show him what it is you really want._ Amanda thought to herself.

Lee was having some thoughts of his own. _Who would think that a cotton terry robe could be so seductive?_ Lee thought to himself as he glanced down at the part of Amanda's thigh that was ever so slightly revealed.

His belly was now sated, his thirst quenched now there was just one more thing he wanted to complete his otherwise wonderful wedding day.

"Lee, I think you are right," Amanda cooed.

"Hmm? Right about what?" Lee questioned eyes bright.

"About me being warm in this robe."

"I'm surprised you've even lasted this long in THAT thing," Lee said and thought, in more ways than one.

Me too! Amanda thought to herself.

"You know I've seen this movie before," Amanda said as she slightly undid the belt to her robe.

"Oh yeah?" Lee responded back, remaining seated with his back to the headboard turning his head to watch Amanda as she loosened the robe, revealing pink silk teddy.

"Yeah, it's been a while."

Amanda stood up and went to one side of the bed, Lee watching as Amanda began taking the robe off, ever so slowly showing more and more of the material, spaghetti straps, soft lace, low cleavage, revealing a hint of Amanda's breast. Lee sucked in a breath as the gown was completely exposed, showing the short baby gown, two slits, one on either side.

"You look simply amazing!" Lee said.

"Thank you!" Amanda said moving back to the head of the bed. "So, Lee, I was thinking, you know about the movie."

"Yes?"

"And the scene with the horses?"

"I love horses," Lee said hoarsely, his body responding both to Amanda's touch and to her voice.

"I know you do! Before they ride them, they groom them" Amanda said leaning in and whispering in Lee's ear, "and get them ready,"

"Yes?" Lee questioned back hoarsely.

"I want to get you ready."

Lee's only response was the look of surprise on his face when Amanda's tongue moved inside his earlobe, her fingertips busy moving along Lee's chest while her mouth danced along the nape of Lee's neck; nipping the delicate skin then licking the spot afterward. Her hands moving towards each of Lee's nipples, like putty in her hands working them so they were hard and taut. Lee arched his back, his stomach muscles tightening in response to each and every one of Amanda's touches.

 _Lee luxuriated in the feel of Amanda's hands and mouth on his skin, his body reacting to her instantly; Amanda's attention to him caused him to feel like he'd never felt with any other woman before. And the lingerie, oh my God, the things the material was doing to him. He couldn't even begin to explain how the touch of the silk against his skin was making him feel._ The more he relished in the feel of the silk, the more he longed to peel the thin material from Amanda's body so he could see and explore her nakedness beneath his own body.

"Amanda, this material, oh my God" His voice trailing off.

"You like it?" Amanda asked, pulling back momentarily to show off the gown and gaze down into Lee's eyes.

"So much so," Lee said slowly and quietly, "that I need you to take it off."

"I aim to please!" Amanda said, as she moved back and seductively slipped one strap, then the other off her shoulder before slowly pulling the material up and over her head; her hair rumpling into disarray making her even sexier in Lee's eyes.

Lee's fingers hooked into the band of the skimpy bikini touching the hairs beneath her panty line as he yanked the material down and off Amanda's legs.  
Amanda covered Lee's body, placing her mouth against his, kissing him wholeheartedly, pouring out every ounce of love and feeling that she had for him. Lee reached up and ran one hand through Amanda's hair; while the other hand smoothed across Amanda's shoulder blade.  
Moans of pleasure escaped Amanda's lips as she ended the kiss. Amanda moved her body down until she was positioned just between Lee's legs, Amanda's tongue tantalizing Lee's manhood, her hand caressing him tenderly before her mouth covered him completely.

"Wow!" Lee beamed overwhelmed with desire.

Lee's body continued to respond in turn; his muscles flexed, his body twitched, while moan after moan escaped him, Lee reached out and grabbed for the headboard while his other hand ran through Amanda's hair.

"Oh, Amanda?" Lee attempted to say,

"Yes, Lee!"

"That feels, oh!" Was all Lee could say as Amanda continued to pleasure him that way for several more seconds. Lee hooked his legs around Amanda's waist running his hands through Amanda's hair.

Lee let out something akin to a growl at the pressure of Amanda's mouth; as his hands gripped her hair more tightly. Amanda continued this way for several minutes her hands moving along the inside of Lee's thigh causing him to move against her.  
Just when Lee thought he would lose it; Amanda released her mouth from Lee moving her body back and covering his body with hers as his mouth covered hers in another round of passionate kisses. Lee's hand went between them; his fingers entering Amanda's womanhood, stroking her slowly then more rapidly; two fingers, in out, in out; Amanda's breathing becoming short.

"Lee!"

Amanda stilled Lee's hands; covering him with her heat; her hands splayed across Lee's chest as she began pumping and rocking back and forth against Lee, moaning and calling out Lee's name, collapsing against his chest as she came, Lee following behind her.

They lay that way for a long time before Amanda moved and turned over onto her side, pulling Lee along with her. Lee wrapped his arms around Amanda while he held her close, lightly stroking her hair and her back; kissing her cheeks as he murmured words of endearments.

"Amanda, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"You do know that you don't have to do anything special, wear anything to keep me interested in you, don't you?"

"Yes, I know. Would you have preferred I wear something else, like the cotton gown you saw me in, well, during the Alan Chamberlain case?" Amanda asked quietly, averting her eyes.

Lee reached out and lifted Amanda's face so that they were eye level again. "That is in the past," Lee said, referring to Amanda's brief involvement with Chamberlain some months earlier. "This gown was wonderful, sexy as hell on you and the surprise right now of having the gown under the terry cloth robe was so, so amazing. It's turning me on again just thinking about it."

"Hmm! I wanted to make tonight an adventure."

"Amanda, are you kidding, ever since day one, every day with you has been an adventure."

"Aw!"

"But Amanda you could come to bed in a sackcloth, and I would desire you anyway."

"Lee, I know. I just wanted to do something special. Show you just how much I love you. But if you want, next time, I'll come to bed in a sackcloth."

Lee laughed pulling Amanda into his arms.

"So, good surprise? Bad surprise? No lingerie in bed next time?"

"Oh, well, I didn't say that," Lee said slowly with a smile. "I just said that you didn't have to do anything special, but if you want to…" His voice trailed off as Amanda interrupted him.

"And what about the robe?"

"Well, as long as you have what you had under it."

"Hmm hmm! Goodnight, sweetheart!"

"Goodnight, Amanda!"

Additional author's notes: Thanks to Tracey and Karen who continue to faithfully Beta my stories.

However, any errors not caught, I take full responsibility for.

Thanks to those of you who continue to read the story and post reviews and comments. I appreciate your taking the time to read my stories.


	34. Chapter 34

Loves Journey: Chapter 34

 **Francine's Apartment**  
It was late morning when Leatherneck walked out of Francine's apartment. "Wow!" Was all that he could say, as he moved past the doorman and walked out towards the main street so that he could hail a cab all the while grinning from ear to ear.  
But it was Francine who lay in bed her mind mesmerized over the fact that she spent the entire night with Leatherneck. The surprising part was that they didn't have sex, they spent the entire evening talking and not only that, they had plans to meet and hang out today. It wasn't because she didn't want to. In fact, after getting to talk to Leatherneck and getting to know him somewhat, she found herself wanting to have sex with him. Or maybe she was lonely. She couldn't exactly comprehend it. But she actually had fun with him last night.

Francine stretched her arms out. _"Well, let's just see how the day goes!"_

Thank you, Lee and Amanda! If not for your wedding, well, I might not have taken the time to get to know Leatherneck. With that thought in her head, Francine closed her eyes, but when another thought came to mind, she shot back up. _Whatever am I going to wear? Just exactly does one wear to Goofy Golf? I know, that hideous white blouse and pink pants my grandmother got me for Christmas._ With that now decided Francine laid her head back down, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

 **Sunday Morning, Hotel**

The sun shone brightly through the window of Lee and Amanda's hotel room. Lee awakened to the feel of Amanda in his arms, his eyes opened and focused upon her causing a smile to appear upon his face. He reached out and touched a loose strand of hair that was cascading across her cheek. Her features were calm, her body still, her face radiant even in her sleep. _Sometimes, he still couldn't believe how long it took him to actually realize just how much he loved Amanda. He never really thought he would find someone. And here he was married to the most_ _amazing, beautiful and wonderful_ _woman in the world._

He reached out and kissed Amanda lightly on the cheek. Amanda stirred slightly, turning over on her side and curling into a ball. "I love you!" Lee whispered to her before sitting up and glancing at the clock. "Damn, it's already 9:30!" He'd hoped to get up sooner and order room service for Amanda. _Well, she should be tired, they'd certainly had an active evening. Not only had they made love when they arrived at the hotel, they'd made love again after they'd had a light dinner and again in the middle of the night. Hell, he should be tired himself. But he was too excited about the day he'd planned for Amanda._ _As far as Lee was concerned, this was "spoil Amanda day" and he was going to do everything possible to make this a special day._

 _One part of his surprise for the morning would be arriving soon. All he had to do now was order some food. He wasn't exactly hungry, but he could go for some coffee. He knew Amanda would be hungry when she awakened, which judging by the time, it would be pretty soon._

Lee stood and headed towards the phone. After ordering breakfast which included, eggs, waffles, fruit, and coffee along with milk, Lee walked over to his bags and looked in the bottom of his suitcase. _Knowing Amanda's tendency for being curious and basically for finding things out; he'd wrapped the thin jewelry case in a pair of pants then placed several other items on top of it, hoping that she wouldn't come across the necklace like when she accidentally found the engagement ring the first time._ _Maybe he was being silly, there really wasn't any reason for her to look in his suitcase, but that never stopped her before._ Lee thought to himself smiling as he re-closed the suitcase and headed back towards the main room and sat lightly on the bed as to not awaken Amanda.

As he sat down, Lee remembered the last time he watched as Amanda slept. That time, was at her house and she was asleep in nothing, but a shirt. He'd inadvertently woke her up but then they'd made love right there on the floor. _That was a good day!_ _Looking at her now and admiring how sexy Amanda was along with the past memory, Lee's body betrayed him, causing Lee's erection to harden. Get a grip, Stetson! There will be plenty more time for that later!_ Lee chided himself as he thought about what he should do next thinking of his mental checklist: _flowers, breakfast ordered, present? Oh, there was one thing he'd forgotten about, the box of_ _Devaronna_ _chocolate that was hidden in a different bag._ As Lee's thoughts continued to go over the plan for the day; Amanda stirred beside him and he looked down at her, his smile widening, revealing his dimples.

"Lee?" Amanda questioned, sitting up slightly, pulling the sheet up over her body to combat the chill of the morning air hitting against her skin.

"Good morning, Mrs. Stetson!"

"Good morning, Mr. Stetson!" Amanda answered back reaching her arms out to Lee, pulling him in for a kiss, the sheet falling down around them.

Lee draped one arm around Amanda, enjoying the feel of Amanda's lips against his and the feel of her arms around him, Lee returned her kiss wholeheartedly, his hands lightly moving across her back.

"Hmm, Amanda!" Lee murmured against Amanda's lips.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Lee asked, their lips parting, his head rested against Amanda's cheek.

"No, not at all." Amanda replied as the kiss ended. "You been awake long?"

"Nah! How are you doing this morning?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Amanda cooed back.

Lee smiled.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes, I'm starving."

"Good, I ordered you some breakfast and along with coffee for the two of us."

"Good. Lee, you know you really should eat some breakfast, it's good for your body."

"I know Amanda, but I'm just not a breakfast person," Lee answered honestly. "But I tell you what?"

"What?" Amanda questioned her eyes wide.

"If it will make you happy, I'll have a little something, maybe half a waffle and some eggs."

"I guess that's a start..." Amanda said quite surprised. "Why are you eating breakfast all of a sudden?"

Lee smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you sure you're my husband?" Amanda asked a smile playing softly on her lips.

"What makes you ask that?"

"The Lee Stetson I know never eats breakfast."

"If I'm not your husband, who were you in bed with all night?" Lee quipped back.

"I don't know, maybe I need help remembering," Amanda answered quietly bending towards Lee. Lee met Amanda the rest of the way, kissing her on the lips, his hands reaching out running across Amanda's neck.

"And if that isn't enough proof, I have the marriage license to prove it."

Amanda smiled as she snuggled closer against Lee.

The two of them lay there quietly for several minutes, listening to the quiet of the day, relishing in the feel of each other. The sound of a knock on the door startled them, causing Lee to jump.

"Oh, hell, it's room service!" Lee jumped up calling as he went, "I'm coming," as he looked around for a pair of pants.

"I have my robe," Amanda said, "you sure you don't want me to get it?"

"Ugh, no, you stay right there!" Lee answered back as he quickly threw his pants on and headed for the door.

Amanda laid down and covered herself with the sheet pulling it as far up her body as she could.

Lee headed the room service guy off at the door opening the door just wide enough to step out into the hall without the door closing behind him, "I got it!" Lee said as he grabbed the cart from him. "Thank you! I'll add your tip to the bill. I'll place the cart in the hall when I'm done."

"Okay, Sir. Enjoy."

Amanda watched as Lee sauntered across the room, pushing the cart across the floor. _Damn! Lee looked good. He had the most amazing looking body she'd ever seen in her life._

Her mouth must've curved up in a smile because Lee asked, "What?"

"Hmm?"

"What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, just how well you looked crossing the room, well, without any clothes on. I mean, you look rather good, big fella." Amanda said, her eyes appraising Lee from head to toe. "And when you look pretty good in your clothes—your body really does fill out a pair of jeans.

"Amanda!" Lee felt his face turning beat red.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were blushing, Lee Stetson!"

"Breakfast is served, madam."


	35. Chapter 35

Loves Journey: Chapter 35

 **Hotel**

Amanda stood to get up, but Lee said, "No, Amanda, stay there and let me get you something to wear." Lee rushed over to Amanda's suitcase and pulled out a few items, but quickly put them back in noticing that nearly everything he picked out was sheer.

"Lee, what are you doing?"

"Wait! I got it." Finally, he found a plain shirt. "Here, put this on, so we can have some breakfast. I'd help you with it, but I'm afraid that would only make things worse."

Amanda giggled at Lee's statement as she pulled the shirt over her head.

"Now," Lee said pushing the food towards Amanda, "time for breakfast," Lee paused, "in bed."

"Oh Lee, you didn't have to do that." Amanda responded yet reached out towards the tray.

"But, Amanda I wanted to. This is after all, because it's the day after the most wonderful day of my life."

"Lee, that's so sweet," Amanda's voice trailed off husky with emotion her hand reaching out towards Lee. A knock at the door paused Amanda's motion. "Now, who could that be?" Amanda asked looking at Lee curiously.

"Maybe they forgot something," Lee offered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Lee, what did they—"Amanda's words froze on her lips at the sight of the beautiful vase Lee was holding, _carrying the prettiest flowers Amanda had ever seen before in her life._ Amanda thought to herself. _She'd of course, heard of orange roses before and she knew of white ones as well of course, but she'd never actually seen them live and definitely not been given any._

"Lee! The flowers, they are, oh my gosh, just simply the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

Lee walked over to the bed and handed them to Amanda, watching in awe at Amanda's expression of delight as he placed the flowers in her hands. "I picked out two kinds of roses. I got you the white roses because they signify new beginnings. Amanda, this is our new beginning," Lee said taking one from the vase and handing it to Amanda.

"Sweetheart, they are gorgeous, simply gorgeous. Thank you!"

"And I gave you the orange roses because they represent passion and excitement." Lee took an orange rose and handed it to Amanda as well. "My life with you is full of passion and excitement. Being a spy was boring compared to how having you in my life has been."

"Lee!"

"Today is your day. We can do anything you want to do. We can go sightseeing, to a museum," Lee rambled off his blue eyes bright with excitement, "out for a walk, catch a movie."

"I'd like that," Amanda answered with a giggle at Lee's ramble.

"Like what Amanda?"

"Any or all of it or nothing at all," Amanda replied back. "As long as we're together and there aren't any bad guys, or bombs waiting to go off, but I'd even take that as long as you and I are together."

"Amanda," Lee said as he started unveiling the food. "You know, with our luck, we'll run into bank robbers."

Amanda smiled, "or nuclear arms dealers."

"Or worse yet, one of our old nemesis'…"

"Yeah! Maybe we better stay in."

"Yeah, maybe we better."

Amanda and Lee gave off a short laugh before Lee picked up a piece of waffle and placed it in Amanda's mouth.

"Hmm!" Amanda exclaimed. "Sweetheart, I love you!"

"Amanda, I love you too!"

"The flowers really were beautiful! Thank you so much!"

"Amanda, you are welcome. I just wanted to show you how much I love you, I wanted to make our wedding weekend special."

"Well, you've certainly done that."

Lee opened his mouth to tell Amanda that there were more surprises, thought better of it and re-closed his mouth instead. _I think I'll just surprise her later with the necklace and the chocolate._

As they sat and ate, they chatted about little to nothing, yet everything. _Inwardly, Amanda smiled to herself. Sometimes, she still couldn't get over just how amazing Lee was and just how besides being an exceedingly sexy man, he was such a wonderful and compassionate person._

They laughed about her friend Kimberly and her daughter Maryann. Lee was sure that the two of them were firecrackers and that he wasn't all that sure he would like for Jamie to like Maryann. _But then who would've thought he'd end up with someone like Amanda. And who would know that she was quite the firecracker herself?_


	36. Chapter 36

**Loves Journey**

Chapter 36

After eating breakfast, Amanda got in the shower, while Lee phoned the concierge. Discovering that there were a few canoe rental times available; noon and one pm, Lee placed the receiver down on the nightstand.

Poking his head inside the bathroom, Lee called out to Amanda, "There's a noon and one o'clock time available. Which one would you prefer?"

"Noon would be fine," Amanda replied. "I'm almost done."

"Okay, I'll book the noon time."

Lee quickly gave the information needed, hung up the phone, then stepped back into the bathroom just as Amanda was stepping out of the shower.

"Oh, I thought I might be able to join you!" Lee said, stepping up close behind Amanda.

"Oh, no! That isn't a good idea. We'd never make it to the canoe."

Lee nuzzled the back of Amanda's neck. "Well, what would be wrong with that?"

"Nothing, but there'll be time enough for more of this later," Amanda said, running her hand down the front of Lee's chest before pulling back and darting away from Lee's outstretched arms.

"Amanda!" Lee growled removing his clothing then stepping into the already running shower.

After showering and dressing in comfortable clothes; Amanda in a pair of jeans and a checkered red/blue shirt, Lee in jeans as well and a similar checkered shirt, they left the hotel room for the first time since they checked in on Saturday afternoon.

While they walked over to the concierge, a young woman stepped up behind them, a beautiful toddler holding her hand; short curls just below her neck. A yellow bow in her brown hair, similar to Amanda's, and bright blue sparkling eyes like Amanda's.

"Sir?" Lee's train of thought was interrupted by the man behind the desk.

"Oh, yes, sorry. I made canoe reservations for two for Noon."

"The name, please!"

"Stetson, Lee Stetson."

"Yes, Sir, let me see," Paxton replied, looking down at a clipboard and then thumbing through a container. "Yes, I see your reservation," Paxton continued.

"Thank you," Lee said.

"There is a shuttle that will take you over to the boats or would you prefer to drive?"

Lee looked towards Amanda who nodded in agreement. "The shuttle would be fine, thanks."

"Okay, just step over there to the front entrance, and there will be someone to pick you up shortly."

Lee and Amanda walked outside towards the doors and while standing in line, Lee's eyes darted towards the toddler who was now outside just a few short feet from them. The little girl smiled as she held onto, who Lee assumed was her mother's, hand; walking across the driveway towards the parking lot. Inadvertently, Lee's eyes remained on them for several minutes. Feeling a nudge at his shoulder, Lee jumped slightly pulling his eyes away from the pair.

"Lee, is something wrong?" Amanda asked as they waited by the front doors.

"Oh, nothing!" Lee replied, but as they headed over to the shuffle, Lee thought about his and Amanda's conversation before they got married, about whether or not they wanted to have children.

 _He was pretty sure he'd love to have children with Amanda. He just wasn't sure how she felt about the matter. She said she hadn't given it much thought. They'd left the discussion open for later. With all the wedding plans, there wasn't time to talk about it, and though there wasn't a rush to do so now, part of him wondered when they should talk about it._

Amanda's hand against his, pulling it into hers answered his question. _This was their honeymoon after all; they could discuss it later._ Lee thought.

"Lee, wasn't that the most adorable little girl you'd ever seen?"

"Amanda, I, oh, yeah, she was pretty adorable, cute," Lee responded. _She always knows._ "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Amanda asked innocently.

"Know what I'm thinking?"

"I know you; that's how I always know."

Lee smiled brightly. "I remember the time that would scare me to death."

"I remember that too!"

"We don't have to talk about—"

"I haven't forgotten about our conversation; we will talk, soon," Amanda said answering what she knew Lee was thinking. "Is that okay?" Her hand rubbed his gingerly.

"Yes, that is okay."

With that, they turned towards the window, looking out at the scenery as the shuttle drove towards the waterfront.

 **Canoeing**

After getting off the shuttle, Lee and Amanda boarded the canoe, him on one end of the boat and Amanda on the other. Amanda insisted on taking the lead seeing that she had experience from her Junior Trailblazer days at camp. Inwardly, Lee grunted but allowed Amanda to steer them out in the water. _She could be quite shy and bashful in her skills when it came to certain things; such as anything to do with the agency, but when it came to other things such as this, where she knew she was skillful she wasn't bashful about it at all. Amanda almost sounded like Captain Bligh!_ Lee smiled and sat back and did as he was told, waiting to see if she was as good as her claim. _As usual, Amanda hadn't sold herself short, she expertly maneuvered the canoe, using the paddle as effortlessly as she walked across the room, once again not only surprising Lee but causing him to be even more in awe of his wife._

They were about three fourths way across the water, headed back towards shore when a flock of seagulls crossed in front of them. Amanda took her camera out of her purse, dropped her paddles and stood up.

"Amanda, sit down, what are you doing?"

"Look!" Amanda said, motioning towards the birds. "I'm taking a picture!"

"Okay, but hurry up, before you tip the boat over! "

Amanda snapped a few photos, and then as she began to sit down, leaned to one side, upsetting the balance of the canoe. The craft wobbled, unsteady in the water.  
"Amanda!" Lee shouted, catching her before she fell into the water. His sudden movement rocked the canoe harder causing Lee to fall over the side. "Oh, Lee!" Amanda shouted, and grabbed Lee's arms to pull him back in, one of Lee's arms was tangled in Amanda's purse strap that was on the seat, hindering Lee from pulling upward, which caused Lee to fall waist deep in the water. Lee was wet from head to toe, having been saturated with water from Amanda's attempts at pulling Lee back in the boat. By the time, Lee was untangled from Amanda's purse and upright in the boat, Lee was soaking wet.

"Lee! I'm sorry."

"Did you really just have to have that picture of the seagulls?"

"I wanted to show the boys! And mother!"

"Did you get your picture?

"Yes!"

"Good!"

Amanda closed her mouth tight trying not to laugh.

"Amanda?"

"Yes, Lee?"

"Can we head back now?" Lee asked, wrapping his arms around his chest as he began shivering from the brisk breeze coming off the lake.

"Oh, sure! We better get you back and get you out of those wet clothes," Amanda paused, "before you catch a chill!"

When Lee was quiet, Amanda said again, "Lee, I really am sorry."

The frown on Lee's face softened, and he reached out and touched Amanda's arm. "I know you are!"

"I guess I was just a little excited."

"I know. I know. It's okay—let's go."

Amanda and Lee picked up their paddles and began rowing back.


	37. Chapter 37

Loves Journey

Chapter 37

 **Hotel**

By the time they made it back to the hotel, Lee's anger that had dissipated was now back in full motion. Lee was fit to be tied.

 **Flashback:**

" _Hi, I'm from the hotel," A young man in his 20's said stepping up, "my name is Ernie and I—" his voice trailed off as he noticed Lee standing next to Amanda shivering slightly, "am here to take you back to the hotel."_

" _What happened to the shuttle?" Amanda asked noticing the shiny new blue 1986 GMC-Suburban._

" _Oh, well…it broke down and is at the shop. We have another shuttle, but it won't be here for another hour or so. I'm able to give rides back, but I can only take a limited amount of people." Ernie said, looking around at the crowd of people beginning to line up for the hotel._

 _Amanda noticing that there were at least twelve people behind herself and Lee said,_

" _Well, we'd love to go, my husband fell in the lake and needs to get back as quick as possible to change clothes."_

" _Yeah, I can see that you would want to go back now. I must warn you though, this is the manager's car, and he only just picked it up yesterday. So, he's pretty well…" he leaned in close to Amanda and Lee and continued almost in a whisper, "skittish about his vehicle."_

" _We don't mind," Lee said._

" _Okay," Ernie replied._

" _But you have to sit on that paper," Ernie replied pointing towards the newspaper on the seats._

 _Lee and Amanda nodded as they boarded the truck._ _Then six more people entered the vehicle along with them._

" _And you'll have to keep your feet on the paper on the floor," Ernie said to everyone, his eyes focused especially on Lee, who made a grunting sound._

 **End of Flashback**

Once they made it to the hotel and Lee stood up to get out, the newspaper was stuck to Lee's pants. Once again, Amanda placed her hand over her mouth to contain the laughter that was threatening to come out. Grunting, Lee snatched the paper away as he and Amanda rushed inside the hotel.

"Lee, you'd better get in the shower before you catch a cold," Amanda said as they reached their hotel room.

"Yes, I should do that!"

Amanda burst out laughing as she sat down in one of the dining room chairs and dusted at her own jeans that were slightly damp. Amanda grabbed a magazine and began looking through it while she waited for Lee. After several minutes, she glanced at her watch and headed towards the bathroom placing her ear against the door. The shower was still going full blast. Shrugging her shoulders, she sat back down and began looking at her magazine again. When after several more minutes, Lee wasn't out, Amanda knocked on the door, and when Lee didn't answer, Amanda opened the door calling Lee's name as she did so.

"Lee! Are you alright in here?"

Pulling the shower door wide open Lee was rinsing out soap suds from his hair.

"Oh, Lee, you scared me to death! I thought something had happened to you in here…"

"Like what, Amanda?" Lee questioned.

"Oh, you were in here so long, and well…I don't know. Maybe that you'd slipped in the tub or something," Amanda continued with a shrug.

"I know, you just wanted to join me," Lee said as he placed a leg out of the shower, reaching towards Amanda.

"Lee Stetson, don't you dare," Amanda shrieked as Lee reached out and picked Amanda up and carried her towards the shower stall.

Amanda squirmed, laughing when Lee held her close to the running shower.

"You know I really should get you," Lee murmured, his lips against her ear.

"I said I was sorry."

"Hmm hmm! I know," Lee murmured, kissing her cheek just before putting her down on her feet outside the stall. "Here, let me dry off, and then I'll get some clothes on, and we can think about what else we want to do before we—" Lee stopped.

"Before we what?"

"Oh, nothing, plans for later."

"Lee, what are you up to?"

"Nothing."

After Lee redressed, Lee and Amanda headed out for a drive. They took a route selected by one of the hotel staff that took them on the highway. Several signs off the highway directed them towards a small shopping center. They exited the highway and found several shops nestled together, a clothing store, an antique store, and a coffee shop. They bypassed the clothing store altogether, choosing to go to 'The Antique Teapot Shop and More' shop instead, where they found several purchases; a teapot for her mother, a Stockman penknife for the colonel and they discovered a train set for the boys. When they finished, Amanda and Lee went to the coffee shop, ordered some coffee then sat down.

"So, you know the conversation from earlier," Amanda said picking up Lee's hand and holding it in her hand.

"Yes?"

"I have been thinking about it and…" Amanda paused for a moment, looking deeply into Lee's eyes, "Lee nothing would make me happier than having a baby or two with you!"

"Oh, Amanda! Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. But there are a few things, details that we will need to work out."

"Such as the house," Lee answered for Amanda.

"We will definitely need a new house."

"Yes."

"And then there is the matter of my career. I will still want to work at the agency and be your partner."

Lee smiled up at Amanda. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

Amanda smiled back at Lee and said, "So, I think we need to talk to Billy, so that we can see how having a baby works when it's a woman agent. And I need to talk to my doctor, you know I am in my late thirties, things might be different…for me…conceiving."

Lee smiled at the ramble that came out of Amanda's mouth. "Talking to Billy is a good idea and seeing your doctor, that is important too. I never thought of that, about your age I mean," Lee answered back.

"Oh gee thanks, Lee!" Amanda said.

"I mean, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." There was a pause before Amanda said, "Then we can go from there."

 **Monday Afternoon**

As Lee maneuvered his car across the road, Amanda sat next to Lee, her fingers unconsciously running across the back of the gold heart pendant as she reflected about her and Lee's last night on their honeymoon. _Not only had he given her a box of Devonna chocolates, but he also surprised her with a new heart pendant necklace. Later, that same night, they celebrated their last night by going to dinner at a quaint but eloquent restaurant someone from the hotel recommended. Afterward, they went back to the hotel where Lee put Bryan Adams' cassette 'A Night in Heaven' on and they danced and swayed to the melody of 'Heaven' as Lee held her in his arms moving to the lyrics:_

 _Baby, you're all that I want_

 _When you're lyin' here in my arms_

 _I'm findin' it hard to believe_

 _We're in heaven_

 _And love is all that I need_

 _And I found it there in your heart_

 _It isn't too hard to see_

 _We're in heaven_

 _Oh, once in your life you find someone_

 _Who will turn your world around_

 _Bring you up when you're feelin' down_

 _Later, she and Lee went to bed where they held each other close as they slowly made love before falling asleep entwined in each other's arms, where they remained until the next morning when their stomachs awakened them._

 **In front of 4247 Maplewood Drive**

Realizing that the car was now stopped and they were in front of her house, Amanda asked, "Is something wrong?" Amanda asked.

"No. You know Amanda before now, I've never really had a family or a home, a real home," Lee paused.

"I know," Amanda agreed.

"I'm excited and nervous at the same time."

"It's fine. You will be fine," Amanda said, reaching out and touching Lee's hand before she leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. "Let's go in."

She then stared into Lee's amazingly beautiful eyes for a moment and smiled at him. _Lee was right; this was a new beginning for them, a beautiful new beginning. Of course, there would be some trials and challenges along the way, but she knew that they would make it, no matter what. Not just because they loved one another, but because the two of them were a great team at work and now they would also be a great team in their home too._

Lee returned Amanda's smile as they sat that way a few more minutes before Lee stepped out of the car, walked around to Amanda's side opening her door, reaching down to assist her out. When Lee turned to close Amanda's door, Dotty, Philip, and Jamie came running out of the house.

"Welcome home!" All three said in unison reaching out to grab Amanda and Lee into an embrace.

Amanda and Lee's smiles grew even brighter as their family greeted them.

That's all!

Thanks for reading another one of my stories.

I hope you enjoyed it. I appreciate your comments and feedback.

Author's notes: Thanks to Tracey and Karen who continue to faithfully Beta my stories.

However, any errors not caught, I take full responsibility for.


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